DANJ! Presents Winter Six: 1993 (Black Hoodie Rap)

01/29/2010

So… as we come to the last post of January on DanjLovesThe90s, I hope y’all have been enjoyin’ this Winter Six thing so far. For this one, we slide into 1993, which was a transitional year both for hip-hop and myself.

Read the rest of this entry »


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 »


Summer Seven Series: 1991

07/01/2009

T2

OK, so… DanjLovesThe90s gets back to normal. Truth told, I almost wanna go in on ya man Joe Jackson for that ol’ bullshit he did, but the homiechick Jia pretty much summed it all up. I’ve also gotten my thoughts together on Mike’s passing even more than I had the other day. But what’s said is said… and now, the Summer Seven Series continues on with the year of 1991.

In ’91, I was going through the pre-teen motions and starting to have all kinds of different interests at once. The summer was pivotal for me because I ended my school year being comfortable in my youth, and by the start of the new one, I was about being what I thought was mature. I became less interested in cartoons and video games, and more conscious about my haircut being on-point and having the right shoes and clothes. Even more importantly than those concerns was the reason why they were so important to me by then: who else but the chicas.

90sheader

If I could’ve, I would’ve tagged along with my older brother all the time, because I wanted to emulate him. Everything he and his friends did just seemed like the way to be, so I was aiming to do as they did. But I was only 11, so I mainly hung with people my age and talked about stuff that none of us knew jackshit about. One funny story I recall was being on the phone with one of my friends, as he told me that some girl had jerked him off earlier. Not knowing what it meant, I said (loud as shit in front of my mother and sister) “She jerked you off? What’s that?” After I was told to get off the phone, my brother laughed his ass off and told me what it was.

“Yooouuung and duuumb” (c) Ving Rhames.

savknee

Even with these changes going on, I still maintained one of my interest from the “kid years”: wrestling. I watched that shit faithfully- and I don’t just mean catching it on the weekends. I mean USWA on Monday, Global on Tuesday, AWA on Wednesday, UWF on Thursday, and ending with WWF and WCW on Friday and Saturday. Actually, I watched a lot of TV whenever I wasn’t out tryin’ to get into whatever I thought I was getting into. I was also crazy about the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which went super-hard- especially with the liquid metal T-1000 and Young John Connor (effeminate as he was) rockin’ the PE shirt.

’91 was a transitional period, with me in the middle of being a kid and what my perception of “growing up” was. It’s that time you look back at a few years later and realize you were way out of your league, and nowhere near ready to be grown up just yet. At the time, though, all I knew is that I wanted to dress like my brother and that I looooved titties. Everything else was still sorting itself out.

doo doo

The Danj! Summer Seven of 1991 (in no particular order):

Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince “Summertime”: Do I uhhh… even need to explain this one?

EPMD feat. LL Cool J “Rampage”: Erick and Parrish collab with Uncle L on what’s still one of my favorites from their best album, Business As Usual. E sounds totally bored, but P and L murder it… as does DJ Scratch on the cuts. Slow down, baby.

Another Bad Creation “Playground”: Mike Bivins‘ boys keep rockin’ with one of those records I still enjoy the shit out of, although I prob’ly shoulda BEEN stopped liking at my age.

Boyz II Men “Motownphilly”: Biv scores again with a group that made their debut with this song and went on to be the biggest male R&B group of the decade.

2 Hyped Brothers & A Dog “Doo Doo Brown”: Put yourself in my position- it’s the summer of ’91, you live in Baltimore, and your sense of hearing is intact. You couldn’t have avoided lovin’ this shit if you wanted to. Shoutout to Frank Ski.

Brand Nubian “Slow Down”: A rap song that denounces money-hungry promiscuous women, and it was actually a hit. What’re the chances of that happening again?

Hi-Five “I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)”: At the end of the year, my music teacher always had the students do individual “Lip Sync” performances on tape that we’d be graded on for the final quarter. This is the song I chose. And no, I don’t have that video- HA!

’92 comes on Monday. AND IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Summer Seven 1990

-D!


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