Wack-Ass Wednesday: Whatzupwitu?

02/23/2011

Ah, yes… in continuing to prove that not everything from the ’90s is deserving of my love, I bring you another installment of Wack-Ass Wednesday. And boy oh boy, do I have a classic for you all today.

Fame can convince anyone that they’re 10 times the talent that they actually are. There was a time in the ’80s where Eddie Murphy was one of the biggest stars around. From his Delirious and Raw standups, to his skits on Saturday Night Live, to his movies like Beverly Hills Cop and Coming To America, Eddie was the shit. Rightfully so, he was arguably the most popular comedian of the decade. But you see, herein begins the problem… during that time period, someone convinced him that he could not only do standups, skits, and movies… but that he could also sing.

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Causin’ A Menace

06/10/2010

The first time I heard or saw anything about Menace II Society was in the October ’92 issue of The Source, about eight months before it came out. I was interested in seeing it from then on, after reading that it would star Tupac, MC Eiht, and Spice 1 in key roles. Once it came out in May ’93, some things had changed (‘Pac was fired from his role as “O-Dog” and replaced by Larenz Tate, and Spice was replaced by Tyrin Turner in the role of “Caine”), but I was still right there to check it out on its opening weekend.

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“She Keeps On Passin’ Me By…”

03/22/2010

“Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love. “- Charlie Brown

The rapper always gets the girl. He gets the girl, he has the girl, he’s always had the girl… because he is the shit. Not only does he have the girl, but he might have your girl. He might even tell you that he committed all kinds of nasty acts with her for nothin’ while you, the listener, do more for her and receive less. Not only does he get the girl AND your girl, but all the girls. When it comes to the women, it’s rarely in the rapper’s nature to not get the girl, or be turned down or ignored by her. And even if he did, he wouldn’t rap about it, cause they don’t luh dem hoes enough to care that much.

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“Talkin’ ‘Bout Snoop, Talkin’ ‘Bout Some Snoop…”

11/23/2009

As mentioned two weeks ago when I covered 36 Chambers, there was a slew of albums that I looked forward to in the fall of 1993. The one I (and my brother) awaited most of all was the debut of arguably the most popular artist of that year, Snoop Doggy Dogg. Even with a total of no albums to his name, everyone knew who he was on the strength of his appearances on The Chronic. With Dr. Dre producing it and the momentum Snoop had, Doggystyle was almost a classic in our minds before we’d even heard it.

So on November 23rd (after a few delays), it finally dropped, and shit was nuts. This was the first time I recall everyone knowing what the release date was, and remembering to pick it up that day. I knew this one dude who came to school late that day, because he wanted to hit the mall and buy the tape first. It was just that big of a deal, especially since we’d been lookin’ forward to it for almost a year. I didn’t get to hear it until later that day, when my brother came home from work. As we’d usually do back then, we went in his room and put it on the big stereo. 16 years later, I’m still lovin’ that shit.

Doggystyle was the kinda album that a lot of artists try hard to make, but only a few actually do. It was something that you could play almost any song from and people knew what it was. It wasn’t one of those things that you play and they only know the singles, or only know certain tracks. Almost everyone I knew, from lil’ kids around my way to my oldest uncle, was rockin’ with that entire shit from front to back. It was like every song on there was a single, because joints like “Ain’t No Fun” were almost as popular as “Gin & Juice” was.

I never thought Snoop was the most super-lyrical MC in the world or anything like that. However, that shit only matters but so much when the songs are on the quality level of those on Doggystyle. His strengths weren’t in word-for-word lyricism. They were in his flow and making everything sound just right- something that a lot of rappers still neglect to this day. Snoop and Dre (with assists by Kurupt, Daz, Rage, Nate Dogg, Warren G, etc.) were putting together songs. At a time when artists were still conscious about not being on the pop or R&B side, they followed “pop” guidelines and made hard music with it. That combination worked more than a lotta artists probably knew it could, and it changed the game in that respect.

Doggystyle is almost perfect. The only thing that always irked me a lil’ bit was that I don’t think any album needs TWO intros. Outside of that minuscule gripe, there’s little that I could say on the negative side. I recall reading a few reviews that seemed to call it a disappointment, and one even suggested that it was more of a victory for Dre as a producer than it was for Snoop as an artist. Not sure about all that, but I’d love to hear more “disappointing” albums sound that good, and I do feel this was Dre’s best production work (followed closely by The Chronic and Niggaz4Life).

Snoop Dogg has been on and off ever since, but 1993 was his year- he had everyone checkin’ for him, he made a great album, and he was really one of the first (if not the first) to do astronomical first-week numbers with over 800,000+ sold. Even an impending murder case (which he beat in ’96) wasn’t enough to stop what was goin’ on. Snoop n’nem came correct with every beat, verse, and hook, and it paid off. Even though it was 16 years ago, and he’s managed to stay relevant in pop culture through other songs/endeavors/etc., don’t get it twisted- Doggystyle is the reason he’s here.

“Gin & Juice”

“Lodi Dodi”

“Murder Was The Case”

“Ain’t No Fun” (feat. Nate Dogg, Kurupt, & Warren G)

“Doggy Dogg World” (feat. Kurupt, Daz, & The Dramatics)

“G’z Up, Hoes Down”

-D! (get ready for Da Dirty 30 on Wednesday…)

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“I’ll Let You Try My Wu-Tang Style…”

11/09/2009

wu-tang 36 chambers

As promised… this is Wu-Week, as I will be covering some of the things that made the Wu-Tang Clan important not only to me as a listener, but to hip-hop as a whole. Clearly, I gotta start where their story begins. Nah, not the “Come Do Me” or “We Love You Rakeem” videos… the debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), which hit the stores 16 years ago today.

Around mid-’93, the buzz started on the Clan, off the strength of their “Protect Ya Neck” single. Then came “Method Man”- a joint that I recall hearing on the radio a few times one weekend, and by the following week, every other dude at my school was repeating that “M-E-T-H-O-D… Man!” hook. There was a lot of new music about to drop then, so my ears were all over the place at that point. I was mostly looking forward to albums by Snoop Dogg, Black Moon, KRS-One, A Tribe Called Quest, and even Erick Sermon‘s first solo joint. I liked the Wu’s singles, but I wasn’t actually dying to hear the album, and I didn’t even know what day it was coming out.

Wu!

But that November, about a week or two after it dropped, that’s when the shit kicked off for me. I went into a record store, intending to cop Das EFX‘s second album, Straight Up Sewaside… but they were playing 36 Chambers in the store. It was at the end of “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ To Fuck Wit” and about to head into “C.R.E.A.M.” By the time “C.R.E.A.M.” ended and Meth was threatening to tie Raekwon to a bedpost with his asscheeks spread out ‘n’ shit [STOP], I was sold.

I might’ve listened to that Das album about five or six times total, but I played 36 Chambers to death all the way into the spring of ’94. The Wu’s rise in the game came almost strictly off of street buzz and word-of-mouth, and I can understand why. If everybody else reacted the same way about the album that I did, then one person told five people, who told 10 people and so forth. I can’t count how many heads I put on to it, and I definitely ended up dubbing it for a number of muh’fukkas.

Tang!

As I said earlier, there was other good stuff out there, but Wu was in a whole ‘nother zone. Sound-quality wise, the shit sounded like they recorded it on a blank tape and turned it in. Yet, at the same time, it was perfect. I can’t even picture hearing it any other way today. Whether intentional or not, it sounds exactly like the “Protect Ya Neck” video looked. The same way that video was EXTRA low-budget (even by ’93 standards), and still drove their movement ahead… 36 Chambers sounded like a rough demo, but blew everybody else’s shit away.

I, and everyone I knew, literally listened to that tape until we knew every word of it. From the 12 actual songs (or 11, depending on how you count the two versions of “7th Chamber”) to the skits (“Is he, is he, is he dead?”) to that long-ass interview in the middle. The Karate flick samples, RZA‘s beats, and of course the lyrics made it (and the Clan itself) a hands-down favorite for me. They even ended up going platinum, which I’m not even sure they expected, but officially established them as one of the top groups in the game.

wu masks

With little to no advance hype or huge radio record, Wu-Tang blew the fukk up with an album that was too great to be ignored once the public caught wind of it. It was the beginning of a hellafied run for the Wu, which I’ll get into further with my next entry. 36 Chambers is the most perfect imperfect album I’ve ever heard, and I doubt I’ll hear another like it. Nobody does it like this anymore… not even them.

“Bring Da Ruckus”

“Shame On A Nigga”

“Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’”

“Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ Ta Fuck Wit”

“C.R.E.A.M.”

“Method Man”

-D!

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“Yeah, My Name Is Trayshawn And I Wanna Dedicate This Song To Juwakatema…”

07/17/2009

prompic

So… I’m the only one who used to listen to the slow jam show at night? Nah, y’all listened to it too. Truthfully, I spent a good part of my teenage years being more interested in “GTD-ing” than bein’ in love and all that ol’ bullshit. But of course, there’d be those times where so-called “love” would take over and I’d be in my tight-ass room with the radio on at 10 p.m., checkin’ out the Love Zone.

All of these songs that I usually wouldn’t listen to would suddenly make all kinds of sense. I’d be sittin’ there really feelin’ these niggas’ plights, even though you couldn’t have forced me to listen to three hours of slow joints the week before. It was especially serious when it’d be a song that spoke specifically to the situation that was goin’ on. I’d be noddin’ along with the song and agreeing, on some “yeah, why she can’t see that?” shit.

But you KNEW it was serious when you’d call and do an on-air dedication. I’ll admit, I did a couple before. When you think about it, there’s always a song for just about any situation. Allow me… and as usual, if you want ‘em, click ‘em:

troop

For That Time You Were Just Tryin’ To Impress Her… TROOP “All I Do Is Think Of You” (1990): You prob’ly had other shit on your mind, but she didn’t know that. It was very ego-catering to believe she was all you thought of, so you really couldn’t lose with this one. If you really did happen to look forward to seein’ her in school everyday (hopefully in a non-stalker way), this helped get that across. Also, yet another reason why The ’90s Loved Michael Jackson.

htown

For That Time You Just Wanted To “GTD” Her… H-Town “Knockin’ Da Boots” (1993): Or “KDB”, either/or. This was that undeniable one right here: it was smooth enough to be a slow joint, but still ig’nant enough to say “I’m tryna take that”. I learned in time that blatant is just the way to go sometimes. I took a hot minute to realize this, but better late than never I guess.

shai

For That Friend You Liked Who Was Bein’ Mistreated By The Dude She Was With… Shai “Comforter” (1993): Not that you were preyin’ on her vulnerability, but you really liked this got-damn girl. This could only go one of two ways. She was either gonna end up fallin’ for you the more she confided in you (possible), or she was gonna completely miss the hint and continue to be with the dude she cried to you about (likely). And on the off-chance that she did get with you, she wasn’t gonna take half the shit from you that she accepted from him. But hey… it’s a good song.

joe-all-things

For That Time You Actually Had A Chance Of  Pullin’ Someone Who Was Taken… Joe “All The Things Your Man Won’t Do” (1996): Realistically, you weren’t gonna do anything that much different from her man, but it sounded like some true stuff to say. And with Joe, these “tryna pull another dude’s girl” songs don’t just stop here. I’ll never forget the “I Wanna Know” video- the girl was havin’ an argument with her man, and this nigga Joe couldn’t even wait ’til it was over before he was already headin’ towards her, talkin’ bout “ya man givin’ you trouble?” But uh, yeah!

aaron+hall

For The Time When It Was Over And You Were Sad As Shit… Aaron Hall “I Miss You” (1994): We’re all adults here, right? It’s OK to admit it. You put on a front in public, you told ya mans n’nem that you weren’t sweatin’ it cause you don’t luh dem hoes, you mighta even told her you weren’t gonna miss her ass. But when you got home and her number wasn’t poppin’ up on that Caller ID anymore, you heard this song and shit got REAL.

And there’s definitely more. I’m not done with these, as I’ll surely be adding on to this topic at least a few more times in the future. I used to think love songs were all the same, but as I’ve gotten older, I realize that it’s a lot more complex than it gets credit for sometimes. In the meantime, stay tuned… and feel free to add your own here.

-D!

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Summer Seven Series: 1993

07/13/2009

radioraheem

Wild as it is, in ’93, a year like 1977 seemed like ancient history to me. Now here I am in 2009, realizing that a 13-year-old on his way to 14 (as I was at the time) probably looks at ’93 the same way. Good God Damn… 16 years! Wow.

strapped

This summer was a turning point for me because I was headed into high school, and I was gettin’ “serious” about music. I wouldn’t say I was serious in terms of having a clue about the business or recording in a studio, but I was at a point where I wanted to take it further than my room. Me and my boy Ray started rappin’ around the same time, so we grouped up and called ourselves Crhyme Inc. I was writing my lyrics and his, and we were always working on our lil’ homemade tapes everytime we hung out. Most of our summer consisted of making tapes, watching Strapped a million times, and listening to DJ Celo & Iran on 93.9 every weekend.

I know it’s cliche, but I was really about living it at the time. Looking back, I was a little “extra” with it, but that’s how crazy about it I was. I would do things like walk around with a knapsack full of tapes and my radio turned all the way up, on some young Radio Raheem shit, just because I thought it was the most hip-hop thing to do. I even remember one time going to someone’s party with my Walkman and just listening to tapes while everybody else was socializing. Totally obnoxious, absolutely self-absorbed… but genuinely in love with the music and the lifestyle- that’s the best way I could describe how I was.

CRYSTAL

Outside of music-related stuff, I was still trying to be older than I was. I liked the fact that I was on the way to high school, because I was always ready to break out of being “young”. I was still immature as shit, but I had my own skewed views of growing up, so I was glad to be out of middle school. It was so major to me, I wanted to have a whole new style and everything. I even went and got myself a baldie, which was NERVOUS- I had no business havin’ a haircut that made my big-ass head more obvious.

By the end of the summer, for whatever reason, I thought I was just gonna walk into high school and be the end-all be-all. I thought I was gonna style on niggas with my bandanas and hoodies, like nobody else was dressing the same way or some shit. I snapped out of that, but you still couldn’t tell me I couldn’t beat the world. I actually wish I had maintained a little of that brashness as the years went on. Either way, for the time being, I was coming of age.

swvrighthere

The Danj! Summer Seven of 1993:

2Pac featuring Shock G & Money B “I Get Around”: Originally meant to be a Digital Underground song that featured ‘Pac, DU gave it to him and changed his whole career in the process. MAJOR record for that whole summer.

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo “On The Run” (Dirty Untouchable Remix): A good two years before NY rappers started jumping headfirst into the whole organized crime thing, G had it in a smash with this one.

SWV “Right Here (Human Nature)”: MJ‘s classic gets reworked for the Sisters With Voices to create a classic of their own. Shoutout to Pharrell with the famous “S, S, double, double” adlib.

Ice Cube “Check Yo’ Self” (Remix): O’Shea channels “The Message” and sends a message of his own, in classic Cube fashion. Bitch, you betta run a check.

The Beatnuts “Reign Of The Tec”: I was hardly gangsta, but damn if hearing Juju say “yo, I’ll shoot ya moms if I have to” didn’t make me screw my face up a lil’ harder every time I heard it.

Christopher Williams “Every Little Thing U Do” (Remix): The “DWYCK” beat rocks for a whole ‘nother summer, courtesy of “the educated brotha from the bank”.

MC Breed featuring 2Pac “Gotta Get Mine”: Breed and ‘Pac drop the “get-yours” anthem for the year (not to mention, the “Thug Life” tattoo makes its debut in this video) R.I.P. to both.

IN CASE YOU MISSED ‘EM: Summer Seven 1990… and 1991… and 1992.

-D!

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’90s Girls

06/24/2009

5411s

RANDOM THOUGHT: Call it being in touch with my feminine side or whatever (stop/rewind), but I’ve never believed in “girl songs”.  I definitely know there’s music that’s aimed more toward women, but I’ve never looked at it like that when it came to liking the music itself. In fact, I never knew anybody did until maybe a few years back. Only in recent years have I known dudes who don’t even listen to female artists’ music, because to them, it’s “for the girls”. I don’t know if that’s a generational thing, or if they just say that and then dance to Beyonce in private… all I know is that some of my favorite songs have happened to come from the fairer sex. And it doesn’t hurt that they were (usually) hot as all hell.

I say that to say this: today’s entry is dedicated to some of the female R&B groups of the ’90s. The ones I’ll be covering here weren’t necessarily the most successful or the most long-running, but they had their moments in time while inside of the decade.

zhaneZhane had a nice lil’ run around ’93-’94. Their unique look and upbeat style gave them a presence at a time when a lotta new girl groups were out there looking mad similar. I also rocked with their midtempo-bouncy sound, mostly produced by Naughty By Nature‘s KayGee. Their big screwup came when they dropped their follow-up in ’97 with a single that was waaay too close to “Hey Mr. DJ” for comfort. It was called “Request Line”, and everything from the subject to the beat sounded awfully familiar to their first hit. Bad move there, but that’s the music industry for ya. They split up the following year, and that’s pretty much it.

ifyoulovemeBrownstone sounded like they were gonna be one of the groups who could go the distance. They came out the box with what (to me) is still one of the strongest R&B songs of the decade, “If You Love Me”. They had the vocals and the songs to go with them… they just couldn’t stay together. One member left before the first album’s run was even over, and then the Version 2 edition split up almost right after the second one came out.

JadeA lot of these girl groups couldn’t make it past that second album, no matter how big that first one was. It happened to Zhane, it happened to Brownstone, and it happened to Jade. They were off to a solid start with a platinum album and single, but they were one of those groups who didn’t have that extra-standout shit to move past the rest of the crowd. And then of course, once the second album started floppin’ like a dying fish, they called it a wrap.

Off_the_HookAlas! XScape managed to make it to the third album. Actually, they managed to endure a lot: pregnancies, changing musical tastes, and being forever branded “them ugly-ass XScape bitches”. They had a nice bunch of hits before going their seperate ways, and neither member has done particularly bad following the split. None of them have matched (popularity-wise) what they did with the group, but they’ve all been associated with successes in one way or another… even it was something as simple as poppin’ out babies for T.I.

mokenstefWhen it comes to one-hitta-quittas of the girl groups, I don’t think it gets any better than MoKenStef. The chorus of “He’s Mine” has gone from being a staple of arguments between dumb wives and mistresses in ’95, to being the status of a million MySpace chicks to this day. I’ve always said that there’s not a chance in hell that a male artist EVER drops a song like this, because that’s just not the way we do business. Naive as it is, it’s a classic song that’s seen a shelf life way longer than the group itself, who only dropped one more single afterward and disappeared.

So, there they are- just a few of the female groups who made R&B happen during the ’90s… shoutout to tennis skirts, Reeboks, and acrylic nails.

Oh, and of course:

Zhane “Hey Mr. DJ” (1993)

Brownstone “If You Love Me” (1994)

Jade “Don’t Walk Away” (1993)

XScape “Who Can I Run To?” (1995)

Mokenstef “He’s Mine” (1995)

-D!

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Doin’ It With The R.

06/11/2009

rkelly

Not that it would matter to the subject of this entry, but we’re all adults here, right? Since we are, let’s all go back to a simpler time. A time before Zorro masks. A time before weird songs about being trapped in closets and midgets hiding in cupboards. A time before a nigga could sing “like two bears in the jungle makin’ looooove” and still be taken seriously. And yeah, a time before “the tape”.

Yep, there was a time when R. Kelly was my nigga.

I never liked him as much as the women did, but he was still one of my favorite R&B artists for a minute there, even during a time when I wasn’t checking for much R&B. After initially being tagged an Aaron Hall knockoff, he eventually broke out of that and spawned a number of his own imitators. Not only was he making a gang of hits, he was also writing and producing hits for others (Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, Hi-Five, Changing Faces, et al). He had the women on him of course, and he also got respect from the males who didn’t deny the quality of the songs. Sure, he always had some off-the-wall lyrics here and there, but they weren’t too ridiculous (yet).

kelly vibe

I first saw R. Kelly & Public Announcement on BET in ’92 with “She’s Got That Vibe”, which was about as close to a new Guy song as anyone was gonna get by then. It got the ball rolling, but then he made it official with the second single “Honey Love”, followed by “Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)” and “Dedicated”. Complete with the headset-mic hookup (with lights on the mic part!), R. was filling the void of all the New Jack Swing-era dudes who weren’t doing it on that level anymore by then. I wasn’t copping that album or anything, but I wasn’t mad at him.

Then came 12 Play, his first official solo album. Honestly, I wasn’t feelin’ his single “Sex Me”, or even “Bump N Grind” for that matter. It seemed like he was just hitting the same well over and over again. It was working for him popularity-wise, but it was “Your Body’s Callin’” that got me back on the R. Kelly train… pause. It wasn’t like the standard mid-tempo record that everyone was doing back then with the “hip-hop” beat and the hardcore posturing in the video. It was just some extra-smooth shit that had soul to it. Then, there was “Sadie”, “Seems Like You’re Ready”, the “Bump N Grind” remix… I was rollin’ with R. kinda heavy again. It continued with the ’95 R. Kelly album, with that epic “Down Low” video and “I Can’t Sleep Baby” (which I actually dedicated to someone on 92Q’s Love Zone- HA!)

kells_purple

Where Kelly threw me was when he started with the rampant cursing and the “rap-style singing” that unfortunately still goes on today. I was a fan of the “Hip-Hop Soul” style that had been going on, but I’ve rarely ever been a fan of singers doing things in their songs that are better left to the rappers. He’d still have a song here and there that I’d like, such as “When A Woman’s Fed Up” and some others… but by the time he’d gotten to “move your body like a snake, ma” and “Thoia-Thoing”, R. was on “this nigga is wack” status for me. And of course, the image of him taking a six-pack piss on the young’in wasn’t exactly cool either.

Just when I thought Kells had done his most ridiculous shit ever, more hilarity ensued. There’s the Best of Both Worlds albums, which are both further testaments that the self-proclaimed “R. In R&B” is not the “R. in Rap”. Then, there’s the “Trapped In The Closet” shit, which I couldn’t believe everyone thought was so ingenious. There’s also the time he ran offstage because he was high off some powerful shit thought stage crew was waving guns at him. Now, homie’s taking it there with the Autotune, and that just speaks for itself.

r-kelly-masked-up

All in all, I’m not a “Pied Piper” fan today, but those first four/five years were alright with me. He def. played a big part (for better and worse) in ’90s R&B and the direction it continued in. Even to this day, I don’t deny his talent and capabilities. I just wish homie didn’t go on to be a big nutjob and did a lot more classic stuff and less of that ol’ other shit.

“Dedicated” (1992)

“Your Body’s Callin’” (1993)

“I Can’t Sleep Baby (If I)” (1995)

“Down Low, Pt. II” (1996)

“When A Woman’s Fed Up” (1998)

-D!

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The Genesis (Intro)

06/01/2009

airbrush

“Whatever music you was listenin’ to when you first started gettin’ laid is always gonna be your favorite music!“- Chris Rock

I wish I could start off by telling some elaborate story of how I contemplated and formulated some grand idea for this blog. Closer to the truth, I suddenly decided that I’d create one and then wondered what in the hell I could base it around. After giving it (very) brief thought, I decided that the thing I’m best at talking about is the thing I love most: the music I grew up on.

Props to movies and TV (which I’ll also be covering), but music was THE thing for me, first and foremost. As a child in B-More, I grew up in a house where the radio STAYED on. At 8:02 a.m., I got dressed for school with music in the background. At 3:57 p.m., I’d come home and hear it before I got in the door. At 7:45 p.m., I came in from playing outside to the sounds of whatever song V103 was playing. As a result, it was only a formality for me to become hooked on music myself. By ’87, I’d taped so many videos, my upstairs neighbor referred to me as “Video King”.

I loved (and still love) a lot of ’80s music of all genres, but I REALLY got locked in during the ’90s. It was the decade in which I not only listened to music… I also made it, spun it at parties, read about it, wrote about it in my school newspaper,  talked about it, and simply LIVED it.  I woke up and went to sleep to it. I got smoked out and intoxicated to it. And YEP, I even got laid to it. There’s music of other genres that occasionally struck me, but the Hip-Hop and R&B of that decade was (as they say) the soundtrack of my life during the coming-of-age stage.

I’ll be quick to admit, I’m not as crazy about it as I once was. I’ve long ago reached that point that most adults eventually reach, when they’re nowhere near the fans they were at say, 15 or so. I do feel like there are some things SORELY missing from today’s Urban music that shouldn’t be. On the other hand, I’m not as concerned with “mourning the death” as are many who prefer to ride the lame-ass “Hip-Hop Is Dead” train. If it is, in fact, dead- I’d rather do just as they implore us to do at funerals: celebrate the life.

Annnnd so, here is DanjLovesThe90s. I hope that you find it entertaining, reflective, celebratory, critical, comical, and anything else it happens to be depending on the entry. Whether you were a Hip-Hop Head or an R&B Swinger, a pre-teen or an adult, East Coast or West Coast… this is for those who either remember the decade fondly or are curious as to what was so great. I plan to chronicle not only my youth, but that of many others like myself who experienced some of these things firsthand. From calling up videos on The Box to seeing Menace II Society in the theater, I will be speakin’ on it.

In honor of the jumpoff, here’s 10 to grow on (if you want ‘em, click ‘em). For the record, I coulda gone a lot harder than this, which I will in many coming entries. Butt In The Meantiiiime…

LL Cool J “Around The Way Girl” (1990)

The Notorious B.I.G. “Guaranteed Raw” (1991)

Mary J. Blige feat. Grand Puba “What’s The 411?” (1992)

Snoop Doggy Dogg “G’z Up, Hoes Down” (1993)

Aaliyah feat. R. Kelly “At Your Best” (Remix) (1994)

Faith Evans feat. Puff Daddy “You Used To Love Me” (Remix) (1995)

Crucial Conflict “Hay (Smokin’ On)” (1996)

Christion “Full Of Smoke” (1997)

Mya feat. SisQo “It’s All About Me” (1998)

DMX feat. Drag-On, Jadakiss, Styles, & Eve “Ruff Ryders Anthem” (Remix) (1999)

13 Comments | DanjLovesTheHipHop, DanjLovesTheR&B, Fun Facts, My Life, Random | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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