The 1988 hip-hop classic Goin' Off was the debut album by Yo Gabba Gabba mainstay Biz Markie. With memorable tracks like "Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz" (think of Biz's Yo Gabba Gabba "Beat of the Day" bit, but on steroids), "Nobody Beats the Biz," and the hilarious "Pickin' Boogers," Goin' Off takes us back to a more innocent time, when hip-hop was about having fun, being clever, and having the most skill—in stark contrast to much of modern rap's glorification of gunplay, drug dealing, and mysogyny. Biz Markie, with the help of another golden-era wordsmith, Big Daddy Kane, wrote some of the wittiest and funniest rhymes ever on this album, while producer extraordinaire Marley Marl assembled some of the funkiest tracks. Like Yo Gabba Gabba does now, the album showcased Biz's exceptional skill as a beat-boxer. Younger rap fans might also recognize the storytelling style exhibited in "Vapors," as modern-day hero Snoop Dogg covered the song on his 1996 album, Tha Doggfather. This deluxe edition of Goin' Off also contains material originally included on 1987's Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz EP.
New heat from The Game, featuring the recently-sentencedGucci Mane and super-producer Timbaland. "Krazy" is a playful song that shows Game sticking to his gang affliliation (the song's title uses the "K" instead of the Crip's "C") with both Gucci Mane and Timbaland reciting the day's activities while making you believe that it's "Krazy" how they're the only ones who can accomplish such feats and tasks. "Krazy" is the first single from Game's upcoming R.E.D. album scheduled for a 2010 release.
These guys are rich. They get plenty "cheese," claim Juvenile and his cohorts, who number among the South's most current "hot" names in rap. On the single "We Be Getting Money," the former member of the Hot Boys is joined by Shawty Lo, Dorrough, and Kango Slim as they add their two cents to Juve's theme for all the hustlers on the grizzy 24-7 (that's "dedicated entrepreneurs" for the slang-challenged). Shawty Lo delivers his patented hoarse-voiced flow, while Dorrough continues to establish himself as one of the South's newest voices to be reckoned with. "We Be Getting Money" is the first single from Juvenile's upcoming album, Cocky & Confident, due out in December.
Recently added to the Napster catalog is the West Coast classic, Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha by Kurupt. The Dogg Pound member (ironically, from Philadelphia) and former executive VP of the now-defunct Death Row label released his second post-Death Row album in 1999, and it spawned huge regional hits. Songs like "Who Ride wit Us" featured Daz, the other half of Tha Dogg Pound, while the hypnotic "Girls All Pause" which featured Nate Dogg, was a major radio success throughout the Southwest. Those who might have thought that Kurupt was your basic cookie-cutter gangsta rapper were in for a surprise: In a display of versatility, "Live on the Mic" featured Kurupt expertly trading freestyle verses with New York legend KRS-One. In an era when "East Coast vs. West Coast" beefs were frequent and escalating to violent, high-profile cases, this track not only showed Kurupt's skill as an MC but his willingness to look past regional differences in order to make a great record. But any type of diplomacy and goodwill would be quickly dismissed; and the last track on the album made sure of that. "Calling out Names" did exactly as the title implies: Kurupt called out the names of those rap artists he had disagreements with, including Ja Rule and DMX. A West Coast classic, Streetz features production by Daz, Fredwreck, and Dr. Dre, as well as appearances by Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and Soopafly.
The new single "Baby By Me" by 50 Cent features R&B crooner Ne-Yo and is geared toward the female fans of the G-Unit head honcho. "Have a baby by me, baby; be a millionaire," he suggests. I'm sure there would be more than a few applicants who would like to take advantage of the thug entrepreneur's proposal. Maybe it's not the most romantic way to court a lady, but with Fiddy's super-thug reputation, this is probably as close to a love song as you're gonna get. Fiddy spits his sex rap while beatsmith Polow da Don hooks up the smoothed-out track to complement Ne-Yo's vocals. "Baby by Me" is the latest taste of the the upcoming 50 Cent album Before I Self Destruct, currently scheduled for release on Nov. 23.
Detroit native Royce da 5' 9" just released his fourth studio album, Street Hop, hot on the heels of Slaughterhouse, the recent drop from supergroup Slaughter House, of which he is a member. Even with a four-year hiatus between solo albums, Royce hasn't lost his touch; he's had plenty of opportunities to work on his patented flow and wordplay, whether ghost-writing for rap mogul Diddy, writing for Slaughter House, or spending time in jail in 2006 for a DUI. His style is still savage, gritty, and at times, disturbing. The ferocity of his flow is evident on tracks such as the opening "Gun Harmonizing," which features fellow Slaughter House teammate Crooked I, "Dinner Time" featuring Busta Rhymes, and the DJ Premier-produced "Shake This." In addition to his unique cadence, Royce continues to be an underrated storyteller as witnessed on the terrifying "Part of Me" (if you're squeamish, don't watch the video for this one). In addition to the aforementioned guests, appearances by Phonté, Bun B, and Joell Ortiz all contribute to what is easily one of the strongest hip-hop releases this year.
New single "Gangsta Luv" from Snoop Dogg is the first song released from his upcoming 10th (yes, 10th) studio album, Malice n Wonderland. One listen and you'll be singing The-Dream's catchy hook: "I got that gangsta, gang-gangsta, gang-gangsta luuuuv." In fact, if it doesn't get you tapping your foot or clapping your hands, you're probably not listening. You can't deny The-Dream's production and Snoop's still-effective MO: Club-friendly rap with a pinch of that funky synthesizer. Malice n Wonderland comes out Dec. 8.
For your listening pleasure, R&B Hits: Fall 2009 compiles the top R&B songs of the season. This set includes the sultry Maxwell singing his #1 hit "Pretty Wings," as well as Mariah Carey's "Obsessed," the chat-friendly "LOL :-)" by Trey Songz, and Alicia Keys' new offering, "Doesn't Mean Anything." We've also included some "R&B-friendly" songs in this set, for those looking for those rap-and-R&B collaborations. A few examples: "Successful" by rap sensation Drake, "Run This Town" by Jay-Z (with Rihanna and Kanye West), and "I'm Good" by Clipse and Pharrell Williams. While not pure R&B in the strictest sense, one could argue it's the R&B parts that have made them hits. That and all that star power...
In the fall of 1979, a song made a modest debut on the Billboard pop charts. But don't let the modest debut fool you: This song is a mutha! Literally and figuratively. The basis for the song was its utilization of a loop from "Good Times," an already-popular song by Chic. But instead of singing over the bass line and hand-claps, it was rapping:
"I said a-hip, hop, a-hippie to the hippie the hip hip a-hop and you don't stop a-rockin'..."
These were some of the immortal words that made The Sugarhill Gang and members Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee household names. The words that gave birth to a movement. While it wasn't the first rap song, it was the first to show how possible it was for rap to succeed.
"Rapper's Delight" was the first hip-hop single to go Gold status. It was also the first Top 40 song to be available only as a 12-inch extended version. Rolling Stone ranks it #248 in the magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All time, while VH1 puts it at #2 on their Greatest Hip-Hop Songs list.
Where were you when you first heard "Rapper's Delight"?
Napster's "Featuring: Lil Wayne" playlist is a collection of recent guest appearances by the reigning King of the South, Lil Wayne. Anyone who's familiar with Weezy's work will realize that compiling such a list is no easy task: Between his numerous collaborations on label-approved material and countless appearances on not-so-label-approved mixtapes which surface almost daily thanks to the Internet (and Weezy's work ethic), keeping tabs on this generation's hardest-working man in show business is a tough gig. So we present this to you now as volume one of what could easily end up being a really loooong series of playlists. This one focuses on Weezy's more recent work with artists including Rick Ross, Kanye West, Scarface, and, of course, Birdman. Please add comments if you have any suggestions for the next volume.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
