You know what summertime reminds me of? Weed! It all started for me in ’96, and for the next six years or so, shit was on like Donkey Kong. I never became a devoted pothead with a time-and-money-consuming habit, but I did grow to enjoy the herbal practice very much.
14 Comments | 
AllTime8, DanjLovesTheHipHop | Tagged: BONE THUGS, KEITH MURRAY, KRS-ONE, LUNIZ, NATE DOGG, REDMAN, SCARFACE, WARREN G | 
Permalink
Posted by Danj!
“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 »
21 Comments | Classic Material, Da Dirty 30, DanjLovesTheHipHop, DanjLovesTheR&B, Hip-Hop Soul, Love Movement, My Life, New Jack Swing, Random | Tagged: BLACK MOON, BRAND NEW HEAVIES, BRAND NUBIAN, CHUBB ROCK, DANJ!, DJ QUIK, DR. DRE, DRU DOWN, INTRO, LL COOL J, MJB, MO THUGS, MONIFAH, NAS, NEW EDITION, ONYX, OUTKAST, PEBBLES, PHAROAHE MONCH, SCARFACE, SHANICE, YOUNGSTAS | Permalink
Posted by Danj!
…I wonder if the Geto Boys are trick-or-treatin’.
It went down like this: It was September of 1991, and I was in 7th grade. I’m in the process of making my umpteenth tape of shit off the radio, when this newness enters my world. I’d been mildly familiar with the Geto Boys, because my brother had one of their albums, and I liked their “Do It Like A G.O.” video from the year before. But they really showed up on my radar with “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”, which I must’ve played about 10 times on the way to school the next morning.
As one of the only hardcore groups from the South at the time, Scarface, Bushwick Bill, and Willie D picked a winner with that one. In ’91, “gangsta rap” wasn’t getting much mainstream love at all- not even groups like N.W.A., who were selling records out the ass anyway. As a matter a fact, it was also when “gangsta rap” artists weren’t aiming for that acceptance either. There were no “obligated singles” on the albums, all stickin’ out like a sore thumb and begging for attention. With groups like the Geto Boys, it was 100% street shit, take it or leave it.
Here it was, flat on the table: three different people dealing with paranoia due to the lives they lived. Scarface’s character can’t even close his eyes without thinking somebody’s out to get him, and he’s even driven his girl away because he didn’t trust her. Willie D thinks he’s being followed everywhere he goes, knowing it could be someone out for revenge. Lastly, Bushwick is really fucked up in the head, because he snaps and starts beatin’ the shit outta someone who isn’t even there. The paranoia theme has been covered a number of times since ’91 (from Cypress Hill to Master P to Beanie Sigel), but only a few have driven it home like the GBs did.
“Mind Playing Tricks…” is one of those instances where a song simply strikes a chord with the people. It doesn’t come with a bunch of fanfare or a brand-name producer’s name stuck to it. It doesn’t get play because of who the artist is (especially since the GBs had no commercial savvy whatsoever at that time). It wasn’t what was commonly known as a “hit”, with a catchy chorus or an MTV-friendly video. The quality and content of the record was just so strong that it stood on its own and is acknowledged as a classic today. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore. God damn, homie.
Geto Boys “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” (1991)
-D!
5 Comments | Classic Material, DanjLovesTheHipHop, DIRTY SOUTH, Nuff Respect Due, One To Grow On | Tagged: DIRTY SOUTH, GETO BOYS, SCARFACE | Permalink
Posted by Danj!
So… on June 10, 1997, I graduated completed high school and went the hell home, glad to be up outta there. My senior year was on some straight bullshit, and I was definitely given a hard way to go through that whole ride. Finally, I was out, with not a clue as to what my next move was. Meanwhile, I figured I might as well enjoy the summer… why not?
During this time, I started DJing at parties with a dude from my old neighborhood named Troy Rock, who I always used to bug when I was younger. He was the DJ around there, and I was just a lil’ kid asking him to make tapes for me and shit like that. By ’97, I was good enough to play at parties, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I didn’t get paid much, but I was more pumped off having the chance to play in front of people and use the Technics 1200s.
But my main focus was still rappin’, and I was really ready to put a lot of time into that. I knew a couple of producers around this time, so I was trying to work with them and get things off the ground. My Plan A and Plan B at that time were both in music. I was gonna work on my own music, and get money by DJing- anything else wasn’t of my concern. I even remember a meeting at school shortly before I graduated completed, at which I told the administrators that THOSE were my plans. “Well don’t you think you should get work or go to school?” Nope, I was gonna rap and spin. Ohhh, the naivete.
In the midst of all that, I was up to my same madness. I was halfway dealin’ with a girl named Tasha (in the grad pic) by this point, but mainly on the field. I wasn’t partial to drinking yet, but I stayed smokin’ with my brother and his cast of characters. I actually liked listening to the radio, and of course I was still watching videos. I wanted to start goin’ to the 17+ clubs around this time, but I never actually went. I wasn’t much into dancing, and I didn’t fukk with Baltimore Club music too hard… so I wasn’t gonna go there and hold up the wall. Just wasn’t my thing.
I really had no idea what I was gonna do except buy more notebooks and more records. My life plan was hare-brained at best, but hell if I didn’t decide to go with it. I don’t really regret it, but I probably woulda done it differently in retrospect. At the time, I was just in my own zone- drinkin’ Surge, smokin’ weed, writin’ lyrics, and askin’ questions later.
The Danj! Summer Seven of 1997 (NOTE: Life After Death is exempt from this list- I ran that WHOLE thing just as much as I did these seven.):
Busta Rhymes “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”: Honestly, I thought this shit was wack the first time I heard it. The second, third, fourth…? You couldn’t tell me it wasn’t the shit. What the dealy, yo?
Puff Daddy feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim, & The LOX “It’s All About The Benjamins”: Of course, everyone in the know had been rockin’ with the Puff/LOX version since the previous winter… but those extra Kim and B.I.G. verses took it from hot to classic.
Dru Hill feat. Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat “In My Bed (Remix)”: B-More’s favorite R&B group in the whole wide wide world was Dru Hill in ’97, and it was undeniable. They were battin’ .1000, and this remix only added on.
Wu-Tang Clan “Triumph”: That Wu-Tang Forever joint was a lil’ hit-and-miss for me, but they came out swingin’ with the lead single. Also, the video had me on some “wow” shit for a minute there.
Royal Flush feat. Noreaga “Iced Down Medallions”: Heard it on 88.9 late one Friday night… from there on out, prob’ly listened to it at least once a day that whole summer.
Scarface feat. 2Pac “Smile”: One of ‘Face’s best records ever, although ‘Pac pretty much owns it. And nah, that wasn’t him in the video.
Lauryn Hill “The Sweetest Thing”: …and nah, wasn’t him in this one either. But “Ms. Hill” continued building on her stardom with this one, a year before she would REALLY shut it down with the Miseducation.
IN CASE YOU MISSED ‘EM: Check out the other Summer Sevens HERE.
-D!
6 Comments | DanjLovesTheHipHop, DanjLovesTheR&B, Hip-Hop Soul, My Life, Summer Seven Series | Tagged: BIGGIE, BUSTA, DA BRAT, DRU HILL, JERMAINE DUPRI, LAURYN HILL, LIL' KIM, LOX, NORE, PUFFY, SCARFACE, TUPAC, WU-TANG | Permalink
Posted by Danj!
I don’t think anyone coulda called it. When Andre and rest of the Dungeon Family stood onstage and made that proclamation at the ’95 Source Awards in New York City, the crowd couldn’t have possibly taken it all that seriously. On that night, it was all about the East Coast and the West Coast, not to mention the lil’ coastal tension that grew from the event. Andre’s announcement mighta been no big deal then, but here we are 14 years later. At this point, I’m damn near expecting someone from NY or Cali to step up at an awards show and express the same views about their hometown.
One thing about being doubted or denied is that in many cases, it can fuel determination. In the ’90s, while the East and West were comfortable, the South was trying hard to break through nationally. Sure, they had the Miami Bass type shit kicking off, and artists like Arrested Development and Kris Kross were popular for a minute. But with the exception of the Geto Boys, no one from the South who made “that real shit” was getting that shot to break through. The big roadblock for anyone from other parts of the U.S. was that “you gotta be in New York or LA” to make it in the biz. Atlanta became a third outlet, mostly due to L.A. Reid and Babyface‘s label, LaFace Records… but they only did R&B.
And then, they gave hip-hop a chance with OutKast, who scored a platinum album with Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. That opened the door for the Dungeon Family’s Goodie MOB to come out the following year with Soul Food. Around the same time, independent labels like Rap-A-Lot and Suave House started trying to expand. Most of the Southern groups weren’t getting heavy MTV play, but they did start getting some rotation on other video outlets. And unlike the East and West, who had all their chips relying on one state, the South had groups coming from all over: Atlanta, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, etc.
I would see some of these acts as they were starting to emerge, and for lack of a better expression, I thought that shit was strange. Their videos always looked extra-low budget, their ads in the magazines were comically bad (shoutout to Pen & Pixel), and their names were even weird to me. They weren’t West Coast-ish enough to be categorized with them, and they definitely weren’t East Coast-ish at all. Some of them were laidback and soulful, and then others were loud and violent. Most of the groups were very regional-sounding, and even though I liked some of the songs, I didn’t think they were breaking nationwide with it.
But outta nowhere, the same videos I (and fukkit, a LOT of people) had been laughing at started to pick up attention. The video for TRU’s “Bout It, Bout It” used to have me in stitches, and damn if not a year later, Master P wasn’t getting played all over the place. The same happened for groups like UGK and Three Six Mafia, whose ads I recalled seeing a couple years prior and thinkin’ “the hell?” Before I knew it, the ’90s were coming to a close with Cash Money and No Limit being two of the top hip-hop labels, and OutKast as arguably the most popular group. Even artists from the East and West coasts were making records that appealed to the Southern sound.
There’s a million theories that could be thrown around, but I feel that the rise of the South in hip-hop was through perseverance and refusing to follow what everyone else was doing. They didn’t try to be like Wu-Tang, they didn’t try to emulate Snoop… they talked about where they were from and spoke the same way in their songs that they did in real life. It’s the same way the West got heavy in the game when it was still 90% East Coast. The South became hip-hop’s Third Coast by making their shit the way they wanted to and believing in it enough to push it until everyone took notice.
And ironically, that’s something that BOTH NY and Cali could prob’ly stand to do right now.
OutKast “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” (1994)
Eightball & MJG “Mr. Big” (1993)
Geto Boys “Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta” (1993)
Big Mike “Havin’ Thangs” (1994)
Ghetto Mafia “Straight From The Dec” (1997)
Three Six Mafia “Tear Da Club Up ’97″ (1997)
UGK “It’s Supposed To Bubble” (1994)
Goodie MOB “Dirty South” (1995)
TRU “I’m Bout It, Bout It” (1995)
Tela feat. Eightball & MJG “Sho Nuff” (1997)
DJ DMD feat. Lil’ Keke & Fat Pat “25 Lighters” (1998)
Lil’ Troy feat. Yungstar, Lil’ Will & Fat Pat “Wanna Be A Baller” (1998)
-D!
7 Comments | Best Of..., DanjLovesTheHipHop, Nuff Respect Due, Southern Comfort | Tagged: ATL, CASH MONEY, DIRTY SOUTH, GETO BOYS, GOODIE MOB, MASTER P, NO LIMIT, OUTKAST, SCARFACE, SUAVE HOUSE, TEXAS, THREE SIX, UGK | Permalink
Posted by Danj!
DanjLovesThe90s!| buy leds on All Black Everything | |
| hoc marketing on Be A Father To Your Child | |
| Paleo Diet Foods on DanjLovesTheAlbums: N.E. … | |
| hoc tieng anh on The Darkness | |
 | طريقة لتعلم اللغة ال… on The ’90s Loved The … |
