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Wednesday, March 31st, 2004
“..if you don�t like my lyrics you can press fast forward…”
What up Bloggers and Bloggettes? It�s your Thursday editor coming to you live and in living color from Seattle, WA. I�m writing this special column in celebration of the one year anniversary of this here Blog. I�ve been a fan of the blog ever since day one and its been an honor to be the 2nd regular guest editor of this joint. Well what better way to celebrate this occasion by spitting some of that REAL TALK? Lets go�
“Aint nothing but a G thang, Baaaaaaby”
The basis of my bias�
I was sitting at the house the other day and I saw the commercial for the 10 year anniversary of the release of Nas� “classic” Illmatic cd and I wanted to ask what makes this cd a “classic”? I wanted to pose this question because back in 1994 out here on the West there was hardly a mention of Illmatic and the quality of the album at the time. This may be shocking to you East Coasters but unless you had family out in the New York area or was on top of your hiphop radio show (scarce at the time)/Yo MTV Raps game you had no idea who Nas was or what he was talking about. Remember this was during the heyday of the gangs, Bloods and Crips. Chances are you were listening to the likes of E-40 and The Click, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Too Short, NWA, Ice Cube, Scarface and the Geto Boys, Spice 1, South Central Cartel, RBL Posse, Brotha Lynch, C-Bo and any other collection of rappers who were talking about the Western way of life. You must realize the climate out this way, there is more of an emphasis on beats, the way that the artist flows over those beats, and storytelling ability rather than complexity of lyrics and metaphors. I don�t make the rules that�s just how they go. Recently such rhyme spitters as Ras Kass and Crooked I have kind of bridged the gap with lyrics and that good West Coast feel but you are looking at 8 out of 10 listeners would much rather hear about the way they are living out here because that is what is familiar to them not the Queensbridge housing projects or Brooklyn. I think that without using the “Juicy Fruit” sample for “Juicy” it wouldn�t have gotten the same kind of appeal that it did out here. You must remember that the majority of people haven�t traveled to the other side of the United States and gotten a good feel for that way of life so how can they be expected to “feel” the lyrics and understand the slang and scenery they are describing? On the same token, how can you have magazine editors and critics evaluating these albums when they are working with a different set of criteria? It�s a recipe for disaster for anyone outside of the Tri-State area until Outkast came along.
“In case you suckers didn’t know, I told you once before
I ain’t rapping too fast, see y’all just listening too slow
I paved the way for the independent grind
The industry they mimick me, but don’t wanna gimme mine”-E-40 “Why they don�t f wit us”, Fallin Rain
What bothers me is that with the majority of media outlets located in the Big Apple they send out a naturally biased view of the rap game because that�s where their “ears” are. A majority of today�s fans are so fickle that they�ll live and die over whatever Hot 97 says is hot or not. I�ve heard people New York say that Southern rap is “weak” or what have you but when Juvenile got “Ha” out there and it touched Hot 97 those same people were loving the South, talking with the weezy New Orleans accent and all that. Lil Jon been putting out heat for sometime and he doesn�t get his money until “Get Low” really takes off the ground but he�s had heaters with E-40 and Too Short and plenty of other Southern artists way before this. He didn�t get his mainstream acceptance until the powers that be gave him the “okay”. Back in 1994 and earlier cats out here were really hustling their tapes out their trunks and traveling throughout the West and the South promoting their music and doing shows because there aren�t the major media outlets like back East. This is where the independent rap game got its start because rappers out here couldn�t get their albums out through those major labels without signing their lives away so they had to do the work themselves. Yes before Roc-a-Fella and Bad Boy there Rap-a-Lot and Sick Wid It Records which opened doors for the independents.
My loyal fans wanna know why it’s so noticeable
and how come none of E-40 lyrics
ain’t never been in The Source ‘Hip-Hop Quotable’?
To tell the truth it’s kinda irkin me, cause I don’t know
I ain’t rappin too fast, see y’all just listenin too slow
You can ask Zomba I’m about a thousand songs deep
Spittin ghetto anthems that I done had
I shoulda been ran out of heat
I had to prove myself first
I didn’t get my deal based on a sixteen measure verse
Uhh, damn right and ever since dude ‘Pac passed away
the West coast ain’t been eatin right
If he was alive I’d ask him for his opinionation
and if he was me what would he do in this sort of situation
Would he take off on these journalists, tell me what you think
for assassinatin motherfuckers characters with all that bad ink?
How they gonna have me Top 50, #43?
I’m a hog, shit; that’s why I don’t fuck with Blaze
I fuck with Murder Dog- E-40 “To Whom This May Concern”
I�ve had this argument many times over about which rappers are the “best” and I�ve come to the conclusion that it�s just a matter of what you can relate to in their music. There is no way that you can�t convince me that E-40 isn�t my favorite rapper of all time and doesn�t have any classic albums. You can look in my collection and you won�t find any Illmatic nor a Ready to Die. Does this make me any less of a rap fan? Nah I don�t think so, I just don�t feel what those entire albums are talking about. I like some songs here and there but I wouldn�t listen to the whole thing. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I have every E-40 and the Click album and all of the good Snoop material as well as many other West Coast artists that are regionally based including Richie Rich, Killa Tay, X-Raided, Luni Coleone, 3X Krazy, C-Bo, Marvaless, etc. These artists are the ones that you can�t find at Tower Records (or any other large chain store) and you have to go the little mom and pop joint to find them or you know someone that knows them. And these are the artists with those trunk bangers or as my guy says “the beat that sounds like a gorilla is trying to get up out the trunk”. The big thing out here is having cars that are big enough to hold the biggest speakers that you can find and “knockin” your beats�riding oldschools like Monte Carlos, Caprices, Regals, as well as Impalas because these were cheap cars that you can fix up easy with a nice pair of Daytons and you would be sitting clean. There was no mention of Benzes and Beamers because most gangsters couldn�t afford them so a rapper who is talking about riding around in the same car as me with that banging beat is gonna get play vs a Illmatic or a Reasonable Doubt. I�m not taking anything away from these albums or their impact, just saying get out from under the persuasion of the media and make those decisions for yourself, don�t say The Black Album is classic if you don�t believe and don�t say someone is weak if you haven�t heard their music. Give it a chance and see what they are talking about first, you might enjoy it. Remember all you fickle fans, your favorite rapper of the moment 50 Cent didn�t reach stratospheric levels until he got with Dre and he discovered that being a gangster would sell him records. Rappers out this way have been talking about shooting people and beating people up for years over tough beats�before Beanie made his song about prison we were listening to X-Raided who has recorded his last 3 or 4 albums via jail cell phone (ask Menage, I�ve let him hear them joints)�before mainstream cats got hip to Jazze Pha, Rick Rock, and Lil John they were on underground joints out this way..
“�I�m like a hammer that you hold in your hands, I make hits�” � Nore (come on man is he serious? If you�ll listen to this nonsense you gotta give some of my guys a good chance)
I just had to get that out to yall and this was a good opportunity for some real talk. Im not saying I don�t like anyone from the East because as you�ve seen on the blog I�ll quote Cam or Jay in a moment but I�m true to my roots which is that mighty West. Even though we don�t get as much credit as we should we�ll keep fighting and putting out that underground heat�if you have any questions about this column or disagree with anything I said, get at me (rylandrbbrown@hotmail.com) remember that I�m smart enough to know that there is no winner in this debate of who is best, just good clean conversation�
My top 5 albums (that I can think of, in no particular order)
The Chronic- Dr. Dre
Down and Dirty-The Click
Above the Rim Soundtrack-various artists
Doggystyle-Snoop Dogg
All Eyes on Me-2Pac
I�ll leave you with a verse from one of my favorite joints by Ras Kass (shout out to Menage)�Marinatin (but its BYOB bring your own blunts , brew, and bitches!!)�WEST UP!
Dialed up some micehead to see what’s crackin’ tonight
She said she just broke up with her man
And since she free like Mandela, she bringin a box of Philly pantellas
Acapella, I got game like Lou Piniella made sure to tell her
Don’t bring no fellas, Sherella, girl you can braid the tweed
And then you can show me how to do the pepper seed
Agreed, cause we get down like this on a regular, loungin’
Watchin’ bootleged tapes, shooting jokes, your choice of imported smokes
Craps and Celo on the patio for more chips than Bingo
Chips like the MGM casino
Just make sure your homegirl is single, so it’s popping
Cause ain’t nothing worse than fifth wheels that’s cockblocking
And knocking what I”m knocking talking about she ret’ to go
I want some of your brown sugar while I bump D’Angelo
(Fo’sho) No special holiday, but sometimes just being alive is a reason for
celebratin
So we mariniatin’ � Ras Kass “Marinatin”
Chuuch�.
