i remember my cousin (an EXPERIENCED AUDIO ENGINEER) and i were recording this superbly TALENTED BRONX RAPPER, whose name i wont mention, when i became aware of TEKASHI 69, this BROOKLYN-born hispanic RAPPER who had recently blown up with the help of his POPULAR "GUMMO" music video.  i remember being really CONFUSED about it all since our dude was pretty LOW-KEY, DISCRETE and UNASSUMING about his GANG AFFILIATIONS and even the PRISON TIME he served, instead being all about the current business at hand of WRITING the most CLEVER shit possible and performing it flawlessly during sessions.  i'm talking SOPHISTICATED INTERNAL RHYME SCHEMES, OBSCURE CULINARY REFERENCES and GENERAL bending-of-the-english-language-to-his-will in the PROUD TRADITION of RAKIM, NAS, LIL WAYNE, early JAY-Z and the like.   in my mind, TEKASHI 69 was the ANTI-POLAR opposite.  his LYRICS were TRASH, his FLOW was LAUGHABLE, he looked like a COMPLETE CLOWN (literally) and seemingly had NO CHARISMA.  the piece i was missing regarding his MASSIVE success was his PRETERNATURAL ability as a MARKETER, INFLUENCER and INTERNET TROLL via SOCIAL MEDIA, where being OUTRAGEOUS and CONTROVERSIAL is more IMPORTANT to gaining a following than being REMARKABLE or particularly GIFTED.

and those CULTURAL RAMIFICATIONS and REAL-LIFE CONSEQUENCES of that DETERMINED SOCIAL MEDIA-enabled CLOUT-CHASING PURSUIT DANIEL HERNANDEZ spearheaded with his TEKASHI 69 PERSONA is the focus of the recent 69: THE SAGA OF DANNY HERNANDEZ (HULU, 2020) documentary.  in essence, he lost himself in the quite literal ALL-OUT PURSUIT of FAME and NOTORIETY.  people forget that SOCIAL MEDIA is a fairly recent CULTURAL PHENOMENON and that SOCIAL SCIENTISTS and ACADEMICS are still in the early stages of understanding the LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES of such.  already we know that there is a systemwide bias towards what is known as ENRAGEMENT ENGAGEMENT, which is that CONTENT that is CONFRONTATIONAL, IMMORAL or MEAN-SPIRITED travels faster through the ecosystem than POSITIVE, SUPPORTIVE or WELL-INTENTIONED MATERIAL.  the CHARACTER of TEKASHI 69 and its ASSOCIATED VIOLENCE, MISOGYNY, OUTRAGEOUS PRESENTATION (face tats and rainbow hair), GANG-LIFE promotion and general EXTREME trolling behavior is almost consciously designed to increase the likelihood of cultivating ATTENTION and thus going VIRAL. 

and it worked.

the documentarian himself, VIKRAM GANDHI, even at certain point considers and questions his own MOTIVATIONS and CULPABILITY in the making of this very film and whether in the end he is just further perpetuating this NEEDLESS cycle of ATTENTION that HERNANDEZ absolutely seeks out.  i feel the same just writing about TEKASHI 69. 

​and the lengths he goes through for said ATTENTION from the jump was EXTREME.  wearing PROVOCATIVE, SELF-DESIGNED clothing with words like "HIV," "PUSSY EATER" and so on.  making UNDERGROUND music videos in which he is constantly engaged in ORAL SEX (eventually he gets caught up in SCANDAL for when a PARTICIPANT of such comes out as UNDERAGE and he pleads no contest).  after a collaboration with LIKE-MINDED RAPPER TRIPPIE RED results in a record deal, this court case comes back to bite him in the ass as most of his SUPPORTERS in the MUSIC INDUSTRY abandon and openly mock him.  this is the moment he begins to associate himself with a REAL-LIFE GANGE in BROOKLYN, who see him as a POTENTIAL CASH COW and tolerate his presence.  that AFFILIATION supercharges his CAREER but the POWER went to his head and he became involved in ACTUAL CRIMES, resulting in a federal case in which he immediately worked with the feds and successfully got nine FELLOW GANG MEMBERS behind bars.  now the dude continues his CAREER with heavy security and is no doubt a WALKING PARIAH in the CULTURE and you wonder if it was all worth it.  at the end you see him as a SOLITARY FIGURE with no REAL FRIENDS or ALLIES, as he used them all on his way to the top, including his FORMER GIRLFRIEND whom he routinely beat for perceived slights out of what can only be described as MANIC PARANOIA and by extension maintains no MEANINGFUL relationship with his own DAUGHTER.

and yet it all feels so PREDICTABLE.

you can BLAME the fact that he had no FATHER FIGURE and was raised dirt POOR with few REALISTIC OCCUPATIONAL PROSPECTS or EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES to better himself, but in the end this FIENDISH PURSUIT of CLOUT and ATTENTION at any cost was entirely his own decision.  the DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM existed with all its FLAWS and he figured out the CHEAT CODE to gaining an ONLINE FOLLOWING, but to pursue such with the GUSTO that he did was again his own making.  i dont feel any SYMPATHY for him.  i dont think even HERNANDEZ considers himself a CAUTIONARY TALE.  it is a PATHETIC NARRATIVE that is still very much being playing out as we speak.  the only thing i take from his example is that it showed the path of least resistance to a whole NEW GENERATION OF ARTISTS who no doubt are now aware of the RISKS and PITFALLS of being EXTREME and OUTRAGEOUS in the SHEER PURSUIT of CLOUT and NOTORIETY. 

​but is it worth it?

parodies by nacrowe

HIP HOP CULTURE is a lot of things to a lot of people, but a genre or venue for aging GRACEFULLY is not one of them.  in fact, arguably more than its JAZZ, ROCK N ROLL or POP peers and counterparts, HIP HOP in particular is all about YOUTH CULTURE and maintaining an ear to the NOVEL, UNEXPLORED and CUTTING-EDGE.  its the LIFEBLOOD of the genre and historically leaves little to no breathing room for so-called LEGACY acts taking up air space as with other genres (examples being AEROSMITH, BILLY JOEL, KISS, PEARL JAM, MADONNA or U2 still drawing ARENA-SIZED crowds despite being culturally RELEVANT literally decades ago).  again, you dont see that with HIP HOP.  you dont see veteran groups like WU-TANG CLAN, NAS, EPMD, RAKIM or DE LA SOUL selling out MADISON SQUARE GARDEN multiple dates every few years like their DINOSAUR ROCK N ROLL band compatriots.

so for me the BEASTIE BOYS are a complete OUTLIER.  right up until their breakup after the TRAGIC PASSING of ADAM 'MCA' YAUCH from PAROTID CANCER in 2012.  with each subsequent release they were given the latitude by their fanbase, and more importantly each other, to truly EXPERIMENT and EVOLVE on wax as musicians as well as individuals.  case in point was the conscious mid-career choice to ACKNOWLEDGE their previous MISOGYNY on stage and on record and PUBLICLY APOLOGIZE for such.  and not only apologize publicly with mere lip service, but meaningfully ADVOCATE on behalf of charities and groups that work in those AFFECTED arenas.  in HIP HOP with its OVERWHELMING FETISHIZING of ANTIQUATED cultural concepts like AUTHENTICITY and SELLING OUT, where one is in disincentivized from ACKNOWLEDGING WEAKNESSES and FAULTS out of FEAR of PUBLIC SHAMING and LOSING FACE, the result of such is ironically a lot of bullshit POSTURING and FRAUDULENT claims of personal hardship.  over the years of being a HIP HOP fan, the BRAVERY of the BEASTIE BOYS in celebrating their friends and loved ones and getting that FRAT BOY crap they embodied on the first record and tour just comes off as more and more COURAGEOUS and NECESSARY as they transitioned into EMPATHETIC, QUESTIONING, SELF-REFLECTIVE, THOUGHTFUL adults.

likewise when MCA became a BUDDHIST and started bringing that perspective into the music, both lyrically and even sonically on tracks like "BODHISATTVA VOW", both ADAM 'AD-ROCK' HOROVITZ and MICHAEL 'MIKE D' DIAMOND went along with it. rather than feeling threatened by this MAJOR LIFE CHANGE, they openly SUPPORTED and CELEBRATED their friend as he continued to EVOLVE on his own PERSONAL journey.  

ive long wondered why the BEASTIE BOYS were able to carve out this wide lane while their peers and ARTISTIC compatriots have had to largely compete with their younger selves ad infinitum.  was it the fact that the BEASTIE BOYS had a large ALTERNATIVE ROCK following unlike peer groups in CYPRESS HILL or RUN-DMC?  one would think that given their race in a black-dominated art form they would be even more prone to being culturally pigeon-holed.  i dont know the answer.  maybe its just because they did it, damn the consequences.  either its a pretty COMPELLING narrative, even in retrospect over a decade after their breakup.

embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the BEASTIE BOYS.  enjoy!

the legacy of OL' DIRTY BASTARD to me is one of UNBRIDLED ORIGINALITY and FEARLESS EXPERIMENTALISM.  it may be APOCRYPHAL, but it has been said that the dude entered the booth and went about his LYRICAL DEXTERITY without even listening to the BEAT itself.  which kind of makes sense.  much of what makes HIP HOP so INTOXICATING musically is the extent to which a GIFTED MC can layer a set of PERCUSSIVELY-EXECUTED RHYMES over an EXISTING track, creating a series of POLYRHYTHMS much like a WEST AFRICAN drum circle where such ODD TIME SIGNATURES ebb and flow from one another and create a MANTRA-LIKE effect.  this is on full display with LYRICAL CRAFTSMEN in the TRADITIONAL school of ARTISTS like RAKIM, NAS, JAY-Z, EMINEM and THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. among others.  in contrast, the UNORTHODOX RHYME SCHEMES of OL' DIRTY BASTARD are inherently UNPREDICTABLE and IRREGULAR in NATURE, so any POLYRHYTHMIC effect is entirely RANDOM and CIRCUMSTANTIAL, making his AESTHETIC entirely UNIQUE and AUTHENTIC unto himself.  to date, no one sounds like him.

there is also a STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS vibe to his VOCALS, with much of it seemingly coming from the top of his head in the moment.  the effect, especially among first time listeners, is quite MESMERIZING as if this HIGH WIRE ACT is meant to lose balance and topple over.  which of course never happens, instead stumbling into the next VERSE with added MOMENTUM and DESTRUCTIVE potential.  the absolute CLASSIC tracks off his debut RETURN TO THE 36 CHAMBERS: THE DIRTY VERSION (ELEKTRA, 1995) are "SHIMMY SHIMMY YA" and "BROOKLYN ZOO," which both showcase this invigoratingly ERRATIC sensibility on FULL DISPLAY, with OL' DIRTY BASTARD switching up topics and introducing NON SEQUITURS at a FURIOUS pace.  with the WU-TANG CLAN, the only LIKE-MINDED rapper was GHOSTFACE KILLAH who similarly was all over the place with an OFF-KILTER DELIVERY, the difference being his GRITTY LYRICAL NARRATIVES were entirely COHESIVE with an overflowing of MULTIFACETED details shotgunning from his mouth.  with OL' DIRTY BASTARD the plot as well as the details were always up for INTERPRETATION, much like an ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST painting.

i was in my final year of undergrad when OL' DIRTY BASTARD PASSED AWAY and i took it pretty hard, which was ODD because i am normally quite INDIFFERENT to CELEBRITY DEATHS.  with him i felt like there was so much QUALITY WORK left on the table, as he was recently let out of prison (where he was incarcerated on a NONVIOLENT cocaine possession rap) and was in the process of reintegrating with society and getting his LYRICAL BEARINGS back when he PASSED from an ACCIDENTAL overdose of cocaine and an opioid prescription for pain.  as an ENGLISH student in college where i was trained to be HYPER-FOCUSED and concerned with things like METER, RHYME SCHEME and CADENCE, OL' DIRTY BASTARD was the prime example of a writer that literally MARCHED TO THE BEAT OF HIS OWN DRUM and created some DIZZYINGLY-EXECUTED GEMS that were HUMOROUS, COMPLEX and highly AFFECTING on an emotional level.  still miss the dude twenty years later.

RIP RUSSELL TYRONE JONES.  WU-TANG FOREVER.

i first came across the LEGENDARY BRONX rapper BIG PUN and the sole album released during his lifetime, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (LOUD, 1998) back shortly after its release in the late 1990s when i was a freshman in high school.  i was at a boarding school and literally the dude next door to me had that record on repeat day after day ad nauseam, so i feel like i learned that album practically by osmosis. 

and to tell you the truth, i wasnt a fan.

HIP HOP from the jump has long been about AMBITION and SUCCESS and the projection of DREAMS of better conditions unto the future that will hopefully materialize and lead to an improved financial future for one's family.  a lot of the CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION and CHEAP BRAGGADOCIO related to the GAUDY flaunting of MATERIAL GOODS (CHAINS, CARS, CLOTHING or even literal MONEY itself) comes from that DARK REALITY of UNDERREPRESENTATION, INEQUALITY and loss of opportunity (OCCUPATIONAL and EDUCATIONAL for starters) that comes from decades of LACK OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT that has long been a real pox on the inner-city.  CAPITAL PUNISHMENT came out during the BLING ERA of HIP HOP during the late 90s and early 00s when the VULGAR and COPIOUS display of MATERIAL WEALTH was a given for most MAINSTREAM rappers.  when i heard a track like "STILL NOT A PLAYER" back in that context of my high school dorm room and its lyrical focus on bragging about SEXUAL CONQUESTS and the accumulation of MATERIAL OBJECTS, i was uninterested and turned off effectively immediately.  much like i was similarly DISMISSIVE (and still am) about the similar efforts of particularly EGREGIOUS offenders such as PUFF DADDY, T-PAIN, JIM JONES, LIL JON and the like.  i was raised on a previous generation of HIP HOP in CYPRESS HILL, PUBLIC ENEMY, BEASTIE BOYS and A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and in time would grow to appreciate similar artists upon discovery in ERIC B & RAKIM, DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN, MOBB DEEP, MF DOOM, NAS, GANG STARR, BIG L, MADLIB, EMINEM and especially the WU-TANG CLAN, all RENOWNED lyricists known for their TECHNICAL ABILITY, FLOW, INVENTIVENESS and STREET-LEVEL perspective.

at the time BIG PUN to me was more like the PUERTO RICAN version of PUFF DADDY.  and for the record PUFFY is and always will be irredeemably LAME.

where i should have been looking was the NOTORIOUS B.I.G. for a comparison.  like BIGGY, BIG PUN was an EXPERT lyricist who championed his community and embodied the ASPIRATIONAL lifestyle that came with chasing MATERIAL OBJECTS.  in the intervening years i have come to correct my initial reaction and respect the WORDPLAY and CRAFT of BIG PUN on tracks like "YOU AIN'T A KILLER," "TWINZ (DEEP COVER)" and "YOU CAME UP."  the dude was particularly comfortable with RAPID-FIRE INTERNAL RHYME SCHEMES and bending WORDS and PHRASES to his will in an EFFORTLESS and INTERCHANGEABLE manner between both ENGLISH and SPANISH, which is something i still have not come across to same extent in years since.  obviously BIG PUN is still much BELOVED in THE BRONX as well as PUERTO RICO and his untimely passing from a heart attack at 28 back in 2000 is a tragedy for that borough specifically as well as the greater HIP HOP community in general.  posthumously the peer he is mostly compared to his EMINEM, with his penchant for turning REAL-LIFE experiences into rarified ALLEGORICAL LYRICAL CONTENT with an UNBRIDLED, CREATIVE FLOW that was both highly TECHNICAL and CRAZY CLEVER.

obviously i got over my initial dismissal of BIG PUN and have seen the error of my ways.  i feel like a lot of artists from that era i need to revisit and reassess.  but thats on me.

for all the RIGHTEOUS, EMPOWERING and brazenly TRANSGRESSIVE and SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT content currently emanating from MODERN female HIP HOP MCs in CARDI B, MEGAN THEE STALLION and NICKI MINAJ, i think people forget just how REVOLUTIONARY LIL' KIM's HARD CORE (ATLANTIC, 1996) debut album was back in the 1990s.  FEMALE SEXUALITY is largely a COMPLEX CULTURAL TABOO, since AMERICAN society for whatever reason has stuck to its INHERITED VICTORIAN PURITANICAL IDEALS.  i believe that with millennials and the next generation that such REGRESSIVE BELIEFS have died down considerably and WOMEN are now somewhat EMPOWERED to say publicly what men have boasted about for generations, i.e. their LOVE OF SEX, DESIRING and BEING DESIRED.

back in the 1990s LIL' KIM was largely seen as a paramour of the NOTORIOUS B.I.G. who was married to R&B singer FAITH EVANS until his untimely passing.  just on that information alone i believe that she was seen as everything from UNSERIOUS as an artist to a CUTTHROAT opportunist.  of course the MISOGYNY in that assessment is pretty TRANSPARENT, as nobody faults BIGGY for his involvement or agency in such a TANGLED love triangle.  the fact that EVANS and KIM later did a track together just shows how adults come together and handle their disagreements with DIGNITY and MATURITY.  anyway, KIM absolutely faced this MISOGYNY head on with HARD CORE, as she unabashedly leans into ILLICIT perceptions of her and goes down and dirty to the point that i believe even LUTHER CAMPBELL (of 2 LIVE CREW fame) would blush.  standout tracks include the single "CRUSH ON YOU" as well as similarly themed tracks in "NOT TONIGHT," "QUEEN BITCH" and "NO TIME."

for my part, its interesting for me to notice how angry people get at modern tracks like the CARDI B / MEGAN THEE STALLION collaboration "WAP" or NICKI MINAJ's "ANACONDA," since i want no part of dictating to WOMEN how they should perceive or describe their own BODIES.  to me that line of thinking is beyond PATRONIZING and just indicative of an overt PATERNALISM that is OUTMODED in modern society.  i dont believe there is a lane that WOMEN, or men, need to stay in due to their GENDER.  my belief is that the real test and judgement is going to be on how AUTHENTIC their music is to both themselves and their audience.  thats it.  everything else is IRRELEVANT.  on those terms i believe HARD CORE is one of the more low-key INFLUENTIAL records of that period as it found a female MC that was willing to take on the boys at their own game, OBJECTIFYING them and PROFITING off of her own INTELLECT and celebration of her SEXUALITY.

every time i come across a NEW artists like ARMANI CAESAR, FLO MILLI, KENTHEMAN or an ICE SPICE, it all feels like UPDATED versions of the same playbook LIL' KIM did back on HARD CORE.  which im all about.  definitely worth revisiting and checking out again.

"sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. he fits right in there. and that's the dude."  - THE BIG LEBOWSKI (POLYGRAM, 1999)

it is difficult to watch the recent RICKY POWELL: THE INDIVIDUALIST (TIME STUDIOS, 2020) about the much BELOVED late PHOTOGRAPHER RICKY POWELL and not come off astonished at the CASUAL CHARISMA and INTUITIVE EFFORTLESSNESS with which he interacted with his SUBJECTS and life in general.  his PHOTOGRAPHS, especially those that showcased the early HIP HOP scene of the 1980s (RUN-DMC, LL COOL J, BEASTIE BOYS, PUBLIC ENEMY) as well as the concurrent modern art scene of the period (JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, KEITH HARING, FUTURA, ANDY WARHOL), showcased a level of fly-on-the-wall, BEHIND-THE-SCENES INTIMACY that made them have a sense of URGENCY and feel forever IN-THE-MOMENT.  the moment is FLEETING, but POWELL's POWER as a PHOTOGRAPHER was his ability to project through his work a SEAMLESS level of integration between ARTIST and SUBJECT that can only come with the later feeling truly SECURE and COMFORTABLE in the former's presence.  his gift in other words, was his (like THE DUDE) ability to be SIMPATICO with his surroundings.

one of the UNIQUE ironies is that although as a PHOTOGRAPHER who primarily shot CELEBRITIES, he was constantly not on his own turf, being on tour buses, backstage rooms, restaurants, art galleries, museums, but through his PHOTOGRAPHS these CELEBRITIES were really in his world.  somebody in the film makes the comment that the purpose of these MUSICIANS and ARTISTS very existence was for him to document them, so respected was his TALENT and EYE.

i remember a relative of mine that has long worked in the FILM INDUSTRY once told me about an upcoming MUSICIAN that befriended a famous ACTOR in the 1990s.  this ACTOR had access to a private jet and took his new friend on a world tour of sorts as part of his entourage which apparently lasted a few years.  the musician effectively stopped writing new material and eventually returned back to a reality in which he had rent due and bills to pay.  so he asked the actor for money and that was it.  he was cut off.  the whole experience set him back and whatever momentum his career trajectory he was on a few years prior was irreparably dashed because of his temporary dalliance with the jet set crowd and that lifestyle.  watching RICKY POWELL: THE INDIVIDUALIST made me think of that scenario immediately.  yes, POWELL was TIGHT with the BEASTIE BOYS and was undoubtedly part of their crew for almost a decade, you know, UNTIL HE WASNT.  instead of transitioning from that experience into the next phase of his career, he instead became a HERMIT in his downtown studio apartment and effectively separated himself from society for a few decades.  the film gets into his HORRIBLE upbringing by a single mother who cherished her animals more than her son, but it doesnt take a psychologist to realize that these ARTISTIC and MUSICAL COMMUNITIES POWELL so effortlessly surfed between were SURROGATE FAMILIES of sorts.  and when those RELATIONSHIPS came to a natural end, he was left to make sense of the pieces.

i found this documentary to be very MELANCHOLIC with this highly CHARMING yet unbearably VULNERABLE figure of POWELL.  the fact that he dies alone from cardiac arrest shortly after filming is almost too TRAGIC to take in.   he had such a UNIQUE GIFT and such a preternatural EMPATHETIC ability to connect with STRANGERS, FAMOUS or otherwise.  its too much to bear that he seemed to be LONELY sans a family his whole life.  he almost came resigned to the fact that the search wasnt worth it.  again, just DEVASTATING.

in the past two years i have been lucky enough to secure copies of both of his much SOUGHT-AFTER PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTIONS OH SNAP! (ST. MARTIN'S GRIFFIN, 1998) and THE RICKFORD FILES (ST. MARTIN'S GRIFFIN, 1999), so i was very much motivated to seek out this documentary once i learned of its existence.  i see the film as ESSENTIAL and definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the beginnings of HIP HOP or the UNDERGROUND graffiti art scene of 1980s NEW YORK CITY. 

NOTABLE interview participants include PROMINENT rappers such as LL COOL J, DARRYL "DMC" MCDANIELS (RUN-DMC), CHUCK D (PUBLIC ENEMY), FAB 5 FREDDY and MIKE D (BEASTIE BOYS), producers MARIO "C" CALDATO and MARK RONSON, publishers DAVID HERSHKOVITZ (PAPER MAGAZINE) and JODI PECKMAN (ROLLING STONE) as well as NEW YORK actors like NATASHA LYONNE, LAURENCE FISHBURNE, DEBI MAZAR and VIN DIESEL, and artists like FUTURA, ZEPHYR, KAVES, MAX PERLICH, CHERYL DUNN, CEY ADAMS, SUE KWON and PATRICK MCMULLAN.

when you look back at the nascent HIP HOP scene in THE BRONX in the late 1970s, there was a lot of EXPERIMENTATION going on.  the form itself was justing coming into being and the sonic possibilities that came with remixing one's record collection on turntables with a clever DJ running copilot was seemingly limited to one's imagination. 

what is INTRIGUING about going back to the source, of which AFRIKA BAMBAATAA & SOULSONIC FORCE's EPOCHAL release PLANET ROCK: THE ALBUM (TOMMY BOY, 1986) is how informed his range was of the musical AVANT-GARDE, even going so far as to sample KRAUTROCK contemporaries KRAFTWERK for the LEGENDARY title track.  in his hands (along with collaborating co-producer ARTHUR BAKER), the consciously RIGID and MACHINE-LIKE efficiency of "NUMBERS" off of KRAFTWERK's COMPUTER WORLD (KLING KLANG, 1981) became something totally unexpected: FUNKY.  in the MODERN lexicon of HIP HOP as it has develop over the ensuing decades, "PLANET ROCK" has one of the DEFINING samples of the genre.  so much so that the song helped provide the impetus for the ELECTRO movement that followed.

sometimes genres become more CALCIFIED over the course of their development as a form and there is this fallacy that develops that the early FORBEARERS somehow held onto this UNADULTERATED, UNALLOYED, PURE DISTILLATION of the TRUE SPIRIT of the genre.  you see that type of incorrect thinking and mythologizing with everything from PUNK ROCK and the BIBLE to BASEBALL and the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.  its a very human thing to distort the past.  the further you go back, often what becomes apparent is how in flux and undetermined all these later DOGMATIC parameters were at the time of formation.  HIP HOP is no different and "PLANET ROCK" is a PRIME and INTRIGUING example of such. 

i would be remiss if i didnt mention the other STANDOUT track, which is "RENEGADES OF FUNK," decades later MEMORABLY covered by BAMBAATAAA acolytes RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE.  lyrically the song celebrates all these BLACK EMPOWERMENT and is a bit of history lesson of such, listing past THINKERS and REVOLUTIONARIES that pushed the ball forward in terms of the LIBERATION and FREEDOM of the AFRICAN DIASPORA.  in fact, BAMBAATAAA headed the UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION, an international HIP HOP awareness group he initiated while still in high school that promoted PAN-AFRICANISM and BLACK EMPOWERMENT.  later NOTABLE affiliates include Q-TIP (A TRIBE CALLED QUEST), KOOL MOE DEE, BIG BOI (OUTKAST), KURTIS BLOW, IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE and ICE-T among many others.

i should also state that in recent years BAMBAATAAA has become something of a CONTROVERSIAL figure, with many allegations surfacing of his alleged involvement in the molesting of young boys going back to the 1970s.  BAMBAATAAA has vehemently denied these charges and to date no charges have been leveled against him.  all the same it goes without mentioning that these allegations have complicated his legacy as a HIP HOP ORIGINATOR and CULTURAL INNOVATOR of the first order.

parody by nacrowe

when i think about how i got into HIP HOP, there is pretty much two eras:  before hearing the WU-TANG CLAN and after hearing the WU-TANG CLAN.  i was somewhat naive about RAP in general during my early years in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, but when i arrived in middle school to NIGERIA i learned about a whole host of artists ranging from CYPRESS HILL, NAS, TUPAC SHAKUR, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. and so on.  it was an EDUCATION to say the least and alongside my EXPOSURE to WEST AFRICAN artists like FELA KUTI, KING SUNNY ADE and LAGBAJA, it provided a foundation for APPRECIATING the COMPLEXITY of modern music from across the AFRICAN DIASPORA.

enter the WU-TANG CLAN.

i was in boarding school in MASSACHUSETTS and the mixed-race son of a UMASS professor who lived next door had an ENTER THE WU-TANGE (36 CHAMBERS) (LOUD, 1993) poster proudly displayed in plain view from the hallway.  remarkably somehow the WU-TANG CLAN never made the journey to NIGERIA.  still boggles my mind.  hearing them for the first time really triggered something in my UNDERSTANDING and APPRECIATION of HIP HOP from there out.  the idea that the objective was to have the most CLEVER people spitting the most CLEVER shit over the most CLEVER production possible.  in WU-TANG you had all of that, with ten MCs tagging themselves in one after the other, attempting to outsmart and essentially outcompete their fellow bandmate.  it was POETRY as a sport envisioned through the LEXICON and VISUAL ICONOGRAPHY of KUNG FU films as stand-in metaphors for the black experience in STATEN ISLAND.  there was literally nothing out there as INTELLIGENT and CREATIVE as WU-TANG in any genre.  that debut is one of those turning point records that hasnt been topped since in my opinion.  and just for the sake of honesty, i worship at the high altar of A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, my all-time favorite HIP HOP group, along with PUBLIC ENEMY, OUTKAST, THE PHARCYDE, GETO BOYS, DE LA SOUL and the BEASTIE BOYS.  but in reality none of those groups produced anything as TRANSFORMATIVE as WU-TANG's debut.  its a PERFECT record.  period.

as if that wasnt enough, there is also the less spoken about BUSINESS SAVVY and GENIUS of WU-TANG CLAN.   signed to LOUD RECORDS, a subsidiary of ZOO RECORDS (of GREEN JELLY and TOOL fame), the label in essence had the rights to the catalogue of the band but not its members, which allowed all of them to sign deals with various labels, such as DEF JAM (METHOD MAN), MCA (GZA), EPIC (GHOSTFACE KILLAH, CAPPADONNA), LOUD (INSPECTAH DECK), ELEKTRA (OL' DIRTY BASTARD), BMG (RZA), PRIORITY (U-GOD), RCA (RAEKWON) and NATURE SOUNDS (MASTA KILLA).  in essence this mean that most of the conglomerates at the time had a financial stake in the WU-TANG enterprise, supporting one in essence raised the profiles of the others.  previous to this arrangement, all solo careers of PROMINENT members were pre-arranged to be developed and promoted by the same management and label as the main group, which effectively straddled momentum.  this INNOVATIVE arrangement WU-TANG employed is now commonplace in the industry and has led to more OPPORTUNITY and DIVERSIFICATION of risk in the music business pre-NAPSTER and widespread internet-enabled file sharing.

i find myself always going back to the WU-TANG CLAN debut.  you hear a verse you love and then find out that the next few hours is all about GHOSTFACE KILLAH's SUPREME CLIENTELE (EPIC, 2000) or FISHSCALE (DEF JAM, 2006) or maybe even OL' DIRTY BASTARD's RETURN TO THE 36 CHAMBERS (ELEKTRA, 1995).  its a ride that is worth repeat visits.

embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired more than three years ago. the playlist includes music from throughout the WU-TANG CLAN catalogue, both the group and its members' various solo and outside projects. enjoy!

my instinct is to always call BULLSHIT whenever people speak nostalgically of a golden age of anything.  truth is, every generation has talent.  each generation also has an artistic mandate to push forward and expand the lexicon of what came before and keep the FRESH musical and LYRICAL EXPERIMENTATION going.  JOEY BADA$$ is a BROOKLYN rapper that came on the scene a decade ago and was heralded as an GIFTED MC that was bringing back CONSCIOUSNESS and INTELLIGENCE back to a national scene dominated by MUMBLE RAP and fly-by-night SOUNDCLOUD artists that made the form DISPENSABLE (as argued by some OVERZEALOUS critics and old heads).

i dont know if i by into such talk, but in the past decade JOEY BADA$$ has proven to be a THOUGHTFUL and INTROSPECTIVE lyricist who much like his better known peers in J COLE and KENDRICK LAMAR, trades on a personal brand of HIP HOP that is focused on his lived EXPERIENCE (RELATIONSHIPS, PERSONAL LIBERATION, COMMUNITY, EDUCATION, etc.) and has lasted the test of time.  to say i consider him in the same league as Q-TIP, TALIB KWELI, CHUCK D, BLACK THOUGHT or MOS DEF is beside the point and IRRELEVANT.  i just look forward to following this guy for years to come.  at the very least he is most definitely worth checking out.

the BEASTIE BOYS fifth studio album HELLO NASTY (CAPITOL, 1998) was a seminal HIP HOP album as i experienced it the summer before my freshman year of high school.  i knew of their existence before due to hearing various LICENSE TO ILL (DEF JAM, 1986) tracks out of context during my elementary school years in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, but i never had their records nor strangely did anyone i knew growing up there and in WEST AFRICA.  its ODD in retrospect since other MAJOR HIP HOP artists like CYPRESS HILL, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., WU-TANG CLAN and TUPAC all seemingly made the jump overseas, but for whatever reason not the BEASTIE BOYS.

regardless, the SEMINAL HELLO NASTY album was the first BEASTIE BOYS record i ever bought and i basically worked my way backwards shortly thereafter.  by this point for years my family had relocated to NEW JERSEY during the summer months (in part to by a years worth of supplies that would shipped overseas to NIGERIA) and in the summer of 1998  "INTERGALACTIC" was a monster hit on both INFLUENTIAL NYC HIP HOP stations like HOT 97 and POWER 105.1 and the ALTERNATIVE ROCK juggernaut that was 92.3 K-ROCK.  that level of UBIQUITY on the airwaves, not to mention the accompanying ADAM YAUCH-directed music video on MTV at the time, made that track a particularly UNIQUE cultural moment at the time.   

HELLO NASTY was co-produced with MARIO CALDATO, JR who was involved with their previous three releases ILL COMMUNICATION (CAPITOL, 1994), CHECK YOUR HEAD (CAPITOL, 1992), and PAUL'S BOUTIQUE (CAPITOL, 1989) and sonically the record is high-energy and propulsive with a clever mix of DANCEHALL, DUB, LOUNGE, DRUM & BASS elements.  this is also the first BEASTIE BOYS release to feature MIX MASTER MIKE as their effective house DJ (complete with his innovative wah-wah pedal inflected vinyl scratching), a role he would continue until their break-up in the wake of YAUCH's passing from salivary gland cancer.  STANDOUT tracks include "REMOTE CONTROL," "THREE MC'S AND ONE DJ," "BODY MOVIN'" and "SUPER DISCO BREAKIN'" with guest performances by the likes of MIHO HATORI (CIBO MATTO) and legendary DUB producer LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY.

everyone has their favorite BEASTIE BOYS record (mine will always be ILL COMMUNICATION), but in effect they are all great.  if you are unfamiliar with their work there is no bad place to start and HELLO NASTY is as GREAT an introduction to a nearly FLAWLESS discography as you will find.  definitely worth checking out.

BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE (JIVE, 1996) is an INTRIGUING A TRIBE CALLED QUEST album in that it marks Q-TIP's growing PSYCHIC and EMOTIONAL DISTANCE from the project in the wake of producing and all around masterminding what are now considered STONE-COLD HIP HOP classics MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS (JIVE, 1991) and THE LOW END THEORY (JIVE, 1991).  this record is basically where he handed some of the reigns over to outside producers, including the relatively UNKNOWN, up-and-coming DETROIT production whiz JAMES YANCEY, a.k.a. J DILLA.

when i got into A TRIBE CALLED QUEST in high school i listened to their records completely out of order.  so BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE was actually the first of their albums i became acquainted with, and the hands down the track that stood above all others was the LAIDBACK, J DILLA-composed "GET A HOLD."  it has this HARD-HITTING beat that is pulled way, way back and has this undeniably LAZY, BREEZY energy that is absolutely CONTAGIOUS.  between that beat and hearing Q-TIP likewise stretch out the syllables in "com-for-tab-le" in the verse, i was hooked and basically sought out the rest of their discography in short order.

taken as a whole, this album suffers in comparison to its two aforementioned predecessors.  funnily enough BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE reminds me of similar predicaments by bands like METALLICA, JANE'S ADDICTION or WEEZER whose above average late career work is totally OVERSHADOWED by their TRANSCENDENT earlier material.  its not that its subpar, its just that it is competing with PERFECTION.  and a not fully engaged Q-TIP relegates this album and its follow-up THE LOVE MOVEMENT (JIVE, 1998) to the same cultural forgotten territory despite EXCELLENT singles.  interestingly enough, their final album WE GOT IT FROM HERE... THANK U FOR YOUR SERVICE (EPIC, 2016) released almost two decades later is a return to form and is arguably their FINEST hour.

​is BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE worth checking out?  of course.  A TRIBE CALLED QUEST is arguably the GREATEST HIP HOP group of all time [my opinion], so everything they released is worth listening to, even the solo albums.  "MOTIVATORS," "PHONY RAPPERS," "1NCE AGAIN," "THE JAM" and of course "GET A HOLD" are all STANDOUT tracks.  but id venture that this record is best enjoyed as a supplement to their more CELEBRATED and universally REVERED earlier albums.  it gives you a sense of their creative arc as a unit and what it sounds like once such an entity begins to break down.

RIP PHIFE DAWG.

there is something special about HIP HOP whereby the artist is an extension of their COMMUNITY.  everyone by definition has to be from somewhere, but in HIP HOP that special role of the artist is often one of defining the STRUGGLES, HOPES and DREAMS of those they came up with in the narratives of their lyrics and being the living embodiment of such for the broader CULTURE.  in some ways its an extension of the GRIOT TRADITION in WEST AFRICA, wherein traveling musicians and storytellers transmitted news and stories by foot from one neighboring VILLAGE to the next, transmitting information as gatekeepers and definers of CULTURAL IDENTITY.  modern MCs, especially that of NASIR 'NAS' JONES, has that level of special relationship with his QUEENSBRIDGE PROJECTS home base and the NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC (TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE, 2014) documentary is an extended meditation on such through the stories transmitted through his debut album ILLMATIC (COLUMBIA, 1994), which many consider the greatest HIP HOP record ever. 

end stop.

i think what this film does an INCREDIBLE job of is present ILLMATIC within a HISTORICAL, POLITICAL and CULTURAL context that is positioned well beyond his QUEENS NEIGHBORHOOD, or even NEW YORK CITY for that matter.  NAS as a person sees his roots in that of his father's side of the family in the DEEP SOUTH where they struggled for generations to get ahead, fighting through SLAVERY and then RECONSTRUCTION & JIM CROW right on through the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT to modern times.  his family utilized music as a coping mechanism as well as a tool to maintain familial cohesion in the face of overwhelming STRUCTURAL RACISM intently designed to pull them apart from each other and eviscerate any sense of IDENTITY or COMMUNITY.  there is a definite through line between this overt utilization of STATE AUTHORITY and related POWER STRUCTURES by white racists in the SOUTH to racially obstruct a community and the modern day STRUGGLES of blacks in NEW YORK CITY in the later half of the 20th century.  you have phenomena like REDLINING, WHITE FLIGHT, the CRACK EPIDEMIC, LIMITED JOB OPPORTUNITIES and UNDERFUNDED SCHOOLS along with the MASS INCARCERATION of black males that results in a long-suffering inner-city community on the decline during NAS' childhood.

NAS himself throughout the film talks about his dual role as being an extension of and expression of his COMMUNITY and it is something he obviously takes great pride in, giving a voice and platform to the QUEENSBRIDGE PROJECTS he was raised within.  there is a particularly POIGNANT moment when he is told about a DANNY CLINCH photograph taken on the premises with people from his specific block, learning that most of them were DECEASED or INCARCERATED in long-term bids.  this included the kids photographed as well.  its reality and it is harsh.  NAS figures he'd be a statistic as well, much like his close childhood friend WILLIE 'ILL WILL' GRAHAM who was struck down right before ILLMATIC was recorded.  its obvious this all weighs heavy on him and that he is SERIOUS about maintaining and being a physical embodiment and manifestation of the POSITIVE aspects of his COMMUNITY.  

this is the broader context for his involvement with the HIP HOP ARCHIVE at HARVARD UNIVERSITY where his lyrics and RELEVANT personal effects will be stored for posterity for future generations for research and educational purposes.  for NAS this immense honor is not about his greatness as an artist per se, but more a vehicle for honoring his COMMUNITY and those that were lost along the way, such as his mother FANNIE ANN JONES, that undeniably were intertwined in his personal narrative. 

it is quite POWERFUL.

it goes also without saying that there were many interview participants in this documentary, including NAS' father OLU DARA and brother JABARI 'JUNGLE' FRET, along with producers associated with ILLMATIC like LARGE PROFESSOR, Q-TIP (A TRIBE CALLED QUEST), PETE ROCK, L.E.S. and DJ PREMIER (GANG STARR).  also present were early benefactors like MC SERCH (3RD BASS) who executive produced ILLMATIC and the record executive FAITH NEWMAN (COLUMBIA RECORDS) who signed him.  also cant go without mentioning the involvement of the local QUEENSBRIDGE mc ROXANNE SHANTE who pushed a gifted but unknown NAS to initially perform and put him and his crew in front of her audience as well as ILLMATIC collaborator, rapper ANTHONY 'AZ' CRUZ.  lastly the many admirers that participated by provided CULTURAL context include that of noted professor/activist CORNEL WEST, DJ MARLEY MARL, BUSTA RHYMES, ERYKAH BADU, PHARRELL WILLIAMS, KENDRICK LAMAR, SWIZZ BEATZ, J COLE and ALICIA KEYS.

in summation NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC is an EXCEPTIONAL introduction to a staggering cultural achievement as well as the UPLIFTING nature of HIP HOP and its INDELIBLE relationship to the here and now of a particular COMMUNITY.  that sense of poetry rooted in AUTHENTIC experience is what defines the genre and gives it its RAW POWER and ARTISTIC WEIGHT.

the BEASTIE BOYS' fourth record ILL COMMUNICATION (CAPITOL, 1994) was a bit of an ARTISTIC and personal WATERSHED moment for the group as it showcased a newfound capacity for individual EXPRESSION unheard of on previous releases.  when the group released LICENSED TO ILL (review linked HERE) some eight years before in 1986, HIP HOP was in its infancy and the three members were still in their early twenties.  most of that record was created as an inside joke with SNARKY asides meant to lampoon types of people they grew up with and saw around them in NYC.  even the tour with its SOPHOMORIC stage props and inflatable phalluses was meant as a joke rather than some huge political statement.  but over time they came to understand that their crowd wasnt in on that joke and perception was becoming reality.  if you act like a dumbass with CHAUVINIST lyrics ("BRASS MONKEY" especially), then people are going to assume you are a dumb MISOGYNIST.

what is so revolutionary about ILL COMMUNICATION is how the band owns their past mistakes and moves forward with GRACE and CONTRITION, something that is utterly unheard of before or since in the often crudely anti-female world of HIP HOP.  right from the get-go on opening track "SURE SHOT," ADAM YAUCH memorably quips that "i want to say a little something that's long overdue / the disrespect to women has got to be through / to all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends / i want to offer my love and respect to the end," which is a completely TRANSFORMATIVE statement that altered their public persona for the rest of their career.  this new understanding of the weight of their actions and the influence it had on their audience defined what causes (MILAREPA FUND, ASPCA, TIBET HOUSE US, FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, LUNCHBOX FUND, RATIONAL ANIMAL) and events (TIBETAN FREEDOM CONCERTS) they promoted and associated themselves with from here on out.  in essence they transitioned to the role of engaged PROGRESSIVE activists.  this legacy continues to this day as TRUMP supporters during the height of MAGA-dom in 2016 decided to use swastikas to desecrate a BROOKLYN park named in YAUCH's honor in his old neighborhood.

previous to the recording of ILL COMMUNICATION, YAUCH became a practicing BUDDHIST chose to make this new found perspective explicit on the upcoming album.  famously all three members of the BEASTIE BOYS were raised JEWISH and it really says something about AD ROCK and MIKE D to embrace their friend and colleague at this moment.  from what ive read and heard in interviews, their response was that of course their friend had found this new thing he felt passionately about and wanted to share and for them that was enough.  they loved and supported their friend and in the end became ENRICHED with an education about BUDDHIST precepts, history and culture.  this transformation can be best heard explicitly on the track (my favorite) "BODHISATTVA VOW."  for the uninitiated, in the MAHAYANA BUDDHIST tradition one who attains enlightenment has the opportunity to avoid the cycle of rebirth as they have already attained a state of karmic purity.  the bodhisattva vow is that they will voluntarily jump back into rebirth to assist all other sentient being in reaching that state first before they themselves depart. its a vow of complete SELFLESSNESS and service to all others before the self in the most profound manner possible.  given this perspective, the ALEX GREY artwork GAIA prominently displayed in the middle of the liner notes furthers this profound sentiment of the INTERDEPENDENCE of humanity with the natural order.  it really is quite the TRANSITIONAL record.

in addition to "SURE SHOT" and "BODHISATTVA VOW" other NOTABLE tracks include "ROOT DOWN," "SABOTAGE" and "GET IT TOGETHER."  it would be criminal negligence to no mention that this is the second of three records co-produced by MARIO CALDATO JR, the other two being CHECK YOUR HEAD (CAPITOL, 1992) and HELLO NASTY (CAPITOL, 1992).  as a TALENTED multi-instrumentalist and composer, his production duties were INVALUABLE to not just the SEAMLESS nature of these recordings (as such were often SAMPLE-HEAVY of varying quality source material), but to EMPOWERMENT of the group itself.  often each member would record at home to their own devices that would be compiled and worked over by CALDATO, essentially streamlining the workflow process.  i think that this one key reason that the album is such an ECLECTIC affair.

speaking for myself, ILL COMMUNICATION is the definitive BEASTIE BOYS record as it showcased a VARIED sonic aesthetic and MATURE, INCLUSIVE worldview that informed the second half of their career and ultimately their legacy as a group.  one of my favorite HIP HOP records ever and most definitely required listening for anyone interested in anything from EAST COAST HIP HOP to ALTERNATIVE ROCK and beyond.

RIP ADAM YAUCH.

i sadly have to admit that i became aware of MOBB DEEP and their landmark release THE INFAMOUS (LOUD, 1995) embarrassingly late, which is odd because I was more or less familiar with the discographies of their EAST COAST contemporaries in the WU-TANG CLAN, THE NOTORIOUS B.IG. and NAS since high school in the late 1990s.  its a shame because THE INFAMOUS is a STANDOUT statement even amongst its NYC peer cohort and is produced mostly by HAVOC and Q-TIP (A TRIBE CALLED QUEST) with contributions by the likes of LARGE PROFESSOR (MAIN SOURCE), KERWIN YOUNG (PUBLIC ENEMY) and DJ PREMIER (GANG STARR).

my cousin is a recording engineer and i learned of MOBB DEEP through him well after college since he would utilize "SHOOK ONES (PART II)" as a comparison sample to A/B against when mixing HIP HOP records at his old recording studio in GREENPOINT.  and i dont believe he was the only one that did that, much like many modern rock producers look to analyzing BRENDAN O'BRIEN's mix on SOUNDGARDEN's SUPERUNKNOWN (review linked HERE) as the unofficial industry standard.  there is just something about how hard that opening sample hits on "SHOOK ONES (PART II)" that makes it the epitome of 1990s BOOM BAP production and an enduring sonic presence unabated well into the modern era. 
HAVOC created a beat that seamlessly evokes the HORROR, TRAGEDY and pedestrian nature of the MENTALITY of a seasoned criminal.

as such, lyrically "SHOOK ONES (PART II)" gets into the internal motivations and WARPED PSYCHOLOGY OF A CRIMINAL.  its an interesting tact because MOBB DEEP is generally uninterested in meaningless showboating or crowd-pleasing proud boasting about MYTHOLOGICAL past criminal endeavors.  their lyrics not only on "SHOOK ONES (PART II)" but also on other standout tracks like "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST," "GIVE UP THE GOODS (JUST STEP)" and "TEMPERATURE'S RISING" are concerned with the STREET-LEVEL experience and the risks and self-inflicted mental carnage therein.  when i first dove into their discography, including the likewise SUPERB follow-up record HELL ON EARTH (LOUD, 1996), it became apparent that their peer's were operating on the level of OCEAN'S ELEVEN (WARNER BROS, 1960) and they were very much more akin to THE GODFATHER (PARAMOUNT, 1972). 

easily the most quotable lyric on this LEGENDARY album is the concept that there "ain't no such things as halfway crooks" as espoused on "SHOOK ONES (PART II)."  its an ALL-IN OR ALL-OUT, entirely binary proposition according to PRODIGY and HAVOC.  in that CRIMINAL MINDSET there is an inherent code of ethics that everything essentially boils down to HONOR, LOYALTY and TRUST.  its less an occupation and more an IDENTITY, and one that results from a lack of occupational and educational opportunities and SYSTEMATIC RACISM with regards to everything from access to basic essentials like housing, quality healthcare and nutritional food.  given whats happened to urban black neighborhoods over the past thirty years since the release of THE INFAMOUS with all the GENTRIFICATION and DISPLACEMENT of long-term tenants who are out-priced from their own homes, it makes you wonder who the REAL GANGSTERS and CRIMINAL MASTERMINDS actually are.  in my mind they are developers, commissioners, landlords, real estate lawyers and accounting firms, but thats just my opinion.  when i listen to THE INFAMOUS, i am just reminded of the lengths people with limited opportunities have to go through just to survive.

in many ways we are all CULPABLE for perpetuating the system ad infinitum me included.

RIP PRODIGY.

from my perspective, when considering the transformative HIP HOP albums from a lyrical and production standpoint, the ones that tend to immediately come to mind include:

1) PUBLIC ENEMY's FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET (DEF JAM, 1990) with its strident political firepower matched by THE BOMB SQUAD's unapologetic bombastic production.

2) BEASTIE BOYS' PAUL's BOUTIQUE (CAPITOL, 1989) and it's postmodern pastiche of film soundtracks, found sound and esoteric 70s vinyl courtesy of the DUST BROTHERS that matched the carefree, idiosyncratic, stream-of-consciousness lyrical content of the group.

3) DE LA SOUL's 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING (TOMMY BOY, 1989) and PRINCE PAUL's kinetic, playful bouncy production likewise constructed utilizing countless samples that synchronized perfectly with the group's intellectually curious, almost SURREALIST mindset.

in my opinion 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING is the last of a breed records that came out around that time, not only from PUBLIC ENEMY and the BEASTIE BOYS, but like-minded groups like A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, WU-TANG CLAN and MOBB DEEP.  there is a sense with these artists that samples utilized are an extension of a perspective shared by the group itself.  it is like an extension almost of their collective ego.  these artists also had identifiable producers/production teams that tailored their sonic identity, whether such be J DILLA, THE BOMB SQUAD, THE DUST BROTHERS, RICK RUBIN, MARIO CALDATO JR, Q-TIP, THE RZA or HAVOC.  i dont believe that is the case anymore with modern producers instead marketing their signatures sonic compositions for in-house stables of artists or at a premium for outside artists, think TIMBALAND or PHARRELL WILLIAMS.  shit evolves.  that is now the model more or less.

in PRINCE PAUL compositions off 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING like the iconic "ME MYSELF AND I," "POTHOLES IN MY LAWN," "EYE KNOW," "BUDDY" and "SAY NO GO" there is a kaleidoscopic, playful blending of JAZZ with 1970s R&B/FUNK/CLASSIC ROCK samples that serves as a perfect sound-bed for a group equally concerned with SOCIAL JUSTICE, POST-COLONIAL BLACK IDENTITY and SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS.  what i love about this era in HIP HOP and this specific record in particular is how the interplay between the sample and the MC and how they transform and contextualize one another.  it is an absolute palimpsest of complex meaning that is only deepened over time.  it is a special alchemy that i go back and enjoy all the time.

but it probably wont happen again.  due to copyright laws and usage rights, a record like 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING is not evil possible without a mammoth budget due to permissions needed and copyright holders paid.  the nearest thing to this record to come out in recent memory was DANGER MOUSE's notorious yet savant level JAY-Z/BEATLES mashup THE GREY ALBUM (SELF-RELEASED, 2004) which likewise entirely skirted copyright regulations.  its unfortunate because these artists and producers transformed said content.  and it is that contextualization, that transformation, that ALCHEMY which is the basic active ingredient in the magic of HIP HOP. 

thats my opinion at least.

i first became aware of the FUGEES in the summer of 1996 when i saw an advertisement for their second album THE SCORE (COLUMBIA, 1996) on a billboard in KING'S CROSS STATION in the LONDON, which was the connecting hub we used to connect to a northern line that took us to HATFIELD where my relative lived at the time.  my family spent a month with this relative in ENGLAND two years in a row and it is a period i look back on with much fondness.  this was also the summer i discovered BRITPOP as OASIS and BLUR were at their commercial peak in ENGLAND during this period.  just a great time to be a kid.

of course ironically the FUGEES are not from ENGLAND, they are from NEW JERSEY where my family spent the rest of the summer and his been based out of for the past few decades.  famously FUGEES members LAURYN HILL, WYCLEF JEAN and PRAS are the children of HAITIAN immigrants and their sound is a mix of SOUL/R&B/HIP HOP with an empathetic lyrical bent towards the underprivileged and economically dispossessed.  it makes total sense that they cover BOB MARLEY's "NO WOMAN, NO CRY" on THE SCORE given its similarly concern with the hardships of the underclass.

my recollection of THE SCORE was how massive tracks like "READY OR NOT," and "FU-GEE-LA" were during my middle school years in NIGERIA.  i remember seeing those videos all the time on M-NET, which was a major television station out of SOUTH AFRICA.  it is safe to say that THE SCORE was a big deal well across the AFRICAN DIASPORA, which is not the case with lots of popular AFRICAN-AMERICAN artists, interestingly.  their iconic cover of "KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG," a NORMAN GIMBEL-penned tracked made famous by in 1972 by ROBERTA FLACK, was essentially a middle-school dance staple.  which is really odd in retrospect given its obsessive lyrical bent.  

look back at THE SCORE, it was the obvious starting point for the massively successful solo careers of LAURYN HILL and WYCLEF JEAN, but in terms of quality only THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL (RUFFHOUSE, 1998) approaches its cultural impact.  for me the standout tracks are undeniably "READY OR NOT" and "FU-GEE-LA" which standup to anything else from that era.  still great songs.

THE SCORE is definitely worth checking out, especially if you are interested in socially conscious HIP HOP.  they werent associated with the movement, but if you are a fan NATIVE TONGUES artists like A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, BLACK SHEEP, THE JUNGLE BROTHERS, SOULS OF MISCHIEF, THE PHARCYDE or DE LA SOUL, then the FUGEES are most certainly worthy of further investigation.

PUBLIC ENEMY is the ultimate HIP HOP group in my opinion.  the only group that comes close is probably the WU-TANG CLAN.  what makes them so innovative and revolutionary is the extent to which they are a self-drive, self-determining, self-contained unit.

at the core is the towering figure of CHUCK D, arguably the most polemical figure in HIP HOP history.  i almost see him outside of the context of music and in the vein of great political writers like THOMAS PAINE, JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU, FREDERICK DOUGLASS, THOMAS JEFFERSON, HENRY DAVID THOREAU, BERTRAND RUSSELL, JOHN LOCKE, or ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  he is the very blueprint for all conscious HIP HOP that followed including Q-TIP, TALIB KWELI, ICE CUBE, BLACK THOUGHT, COMMON and so forth.  his gift is his ability to both methodically and viscerally convey an effective unadulterated viewpoint concerning the BLACK EXPERIENCE in AMERICA.  the dude holds no punches on tracks like "911 IS A JOKE," "ANTI-NIGGER MACHINE," "WELCOME TO THE TERRORDOME" and most famously "FIGHT THE POWER" off their epochal release FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET (DEF JAM, 1990).  the man is righteous and has done immeasurable good in galvanizing his fans to think for themselves and question the authority of AMERICAN political, cultural, economic and policing systems that are innately corrupt.  he also has helped educate WHITE, suburban kids like myself without watering down the message.  in my eyes he is a leader and a prophet, as the vision of AMERICA painted here feels more alive now than ever before 30 years after the release of FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET.

part of the reason CHUCK D is so effective is the in-house production team THE BOMB SQUAD, which created a sonic palette of jaggedly juxtaposed samples, synths and beats that dont careen and soothe, but rather rip and slash their way through your senses.  its an abrasive and infectious sonic aesthetic that synchronized with the political intent of the lyrical content perfectly.  years later RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE would appear and take this sense of dynamics and translate it into a ROCK context to similarly great affect to antagonize and uplift listeners with a matching SOCIAL JUSTICE lyrical bent.  the importance of THE BOMB SQUAD cannot be understated in the effectiveness of PUBLIC ENEMY's cultural standing.  they effective laid the aural groundwork for CHUCK D to push his audience to new levels of consciousness.

which brings me to FLAVOR FLAV.  since PUBLIC ENEMY is so intense and so politcally charged, it would be very easy for them to come off as joyless nad stubbornly monotonous in tone.  what FLAV brought to the table was a sense of comic relief without diluting the intent and message itself.  it is a fine line he walks as some have even singled him out as an example of modern-day minstrelsy.  i disagree categorically.  his gift to the group is a sense of emotional levity, allowing for their to be a moment of contrast before the listener dives right back into the thick of causticly righteous rhymes about society's ills and the corporate structures that serve to undermine us as individuals.  without him, the message would not be as effective.  he is not a distraction in this sense, he is the glue that keeps the music engaging and effective in its ability to jolt us from our waking sleep.

FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET is an iconic record by an iconic group that hasnt aged or become irrelevant in the least.  in fact it is a testament and a siren to today's ascending technocratic hellscape run by corporate structures that aid and abet WHITE NATIONALIST agendas.  dont believe me?  watch the news. 

welcome to the terrordome, indeed.

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to be honest i was not a fan of this JAY-Z record when it came out. 

when VOL. 2... HARD KNOCK LIFE (ROC-A-FELLA, 1998) was released i was attending middle school while living abroad in NIGERIA and was surrounded by peers that were into CYPRESS HILL and the recently deceased TUPAC SHAKUR and THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., as well as NYC HIP HOP groups like A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and WU-TANG CLAN.  i distinctly remember returning to NEW JERSEY and having trend-chasing, FUBU-wearing cousins that were into more mainstream stuff like P DIDDY, MA$E and later JA RULE.  so that was my initial bias against JAY-Z and this record.

i've come around since then.  sort of.

i think HIP HOP was in an interesting phase at the end of the 1990s, with SOUTHERN HIP HOP acts like OUTKAST not emerging as a cultural force quite yet and the mantle of top MC was still up for grabs after the untimely murders of the aforementioned TUPAC and BIGGIE.  if this record comes off commercial and anthemic with lots of R&B-affected beats and song structures (a la "HARD KNOCK LIFE"), that was absolutely intentional and by design.  with production credits by the likes of TIMBALAND, SWIZZ BEATZ, DJ PREMIER, THE 45 KING, IRV GOTTI, JERMAINE DUPRI and KID CAPRI and guest appearances by DMX, TOO $HORT, JADAKISS, JA RULE, MEMPHIS BLEEK, FOXY BROWN and BEANIE SIGEL this record definitely stood out from its predecessors for its sonic variety, (which basically discarding the more minimal beats utilized previously) and its abundant use of upcoming and established MCs.

for me its a mix-bag record, a definite downgrade from his debut in REASONABLE DOUBT (ROC-A-FELLA, 1996) and not in the same league as later career highlights like THE BLUEPRINT (ROC-A-FELLA, 2001) and THE BLACK ALBUM (ROC-A-FELLA, 2003).  there are two absolutely killer tracks in "NIGGA WHAT, NIGGA WHO" and "CAN I GET A..." that stand up there with anything in his discography, but too often trite, reductive faire like "MONEY, CASH, HOES" and "RIDE OR DIE" is what this record relies on.  too me it almost feels like a warped feedback loop that is very common in modern country music whereby an artist writes about his/her life in a manner that is meant to chase a desired audience and then that audience takes that message to heart, only perpetuating it further and providing more of an incentive for similarly themed future tracks.  it just comes off inauthentic because it appears to come from a place of clout-chasing.  but you have to remember that back in the late 1990s there were no internet music blogs or social media, so the only way to gain marketshare was through being commercial.  so i get the dilemma he was facing in attempting to claim the mantle of top MC.  it makes sense.  at the same time its difficult listening back to corny JAY-Z songs dealing with DRUGS, SEX and VIOLENCE during this period.  later he will become more personal and i would argue, more compelling as an artist and a cultural figure.  he does get better.

obviously this is not that peak period in his career quite yet so its an interesting moment in time to revisit.  for my money during this period it is better to check out the work of NAS or OUTKAST maybe even slightly later records by DEAD PREZ.

my introduction to the BEASTIE BOYS was innocently enough at the main baseball field at FULLERTON COLLEGE in the mid-1990s where i remember walking with my parents to meet my new pitching coach when "BRASS MONKEY" began blaring out on the P.A. while the college players casually did laps around the diamond.  its a pretty WELL-LODGED memory at this point, mostly because just seemed UPBEAT and rhythmically OFF-KILTER that it left my teenage mind questioning, "what the hell was that?!?"

LICENSED TO ILL (DEF JAM, 1986), the debut BEASTIE BOYS record is a widely-celebrated landmark release with a COMPLICATED legacy. and i dont even believe that is a CONTROVERSIAL statement at this point, since id contend that the surviving members (rest in peace MCA) would likely agree with that assessment.  i mean, the working title for the album was DON'T BE A FAGGOT, and only after repeated INTENSE label pressure did the band and management acquiesce (can you imagine? thank god!).  to my ears when i listen to LICENSED TO ILL i am confronted with the arc of their evolution as musicians and as men.  this was the starting point and famously a lot of the more PRURIENT, JUVENILE material was an IN-JOKE with producer RICK RUBIN.  in their minds they were MAKING FUN of the FRAT MENTALITY and when they went on tour learned that they in fact started living up to their own PARODY.  becoming it even to the point that it blurred the line entirely.   when i think of this record it brings to mind the interplay between a MESSAGE and its AUDIENCE and how as an artist you need to be CAREFUL with what you throw out into the ether.

there is a lot to LOVE about this record, from stone cold CLASSIC tracks like "NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN," "PAUL REVERE," "HOLD IT NOW, HIT IT," "(YOU GOTTA) FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT (TO PARTY!)," "RHYMIN & STEALIN," "SLOW AND LOW," and, of course, the aforementioned "BRASS MONKEY."  unfortunately there is a bit of a strain of MISOGYNY throughout with lines about VAGUE SEXUAL TRANSGRESSIONS with wiffle ball bats ("PAUL REVERE") and basically that whole song "GIRLS," which is pretty SEXIST and CRINGE-INDUCING in retrospect.  i really think this is the kind of record you have to go into mindful of the fact that the group that made it learned from their actions and spent the rest of their career being an ACTIVE and ENGAGED participant in the message they beamed out to the world; i.e. becoming a model as THOUGHTFUL and ENGAGED elder-statesman who tirelessly promoted POLITICAL, SOCIAL and ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESSIVE causes as activists.  you also have to realize they were really YOUNG when they made LICENSED TO ILL.  it is an HONEST (if TROUBLING) artifact of its time from which they have long since moved on from and have transitioned into cultural force in both the EAST COAST HIP HOP and ALTERNATIVE ROCK explosions of the 1990s and beyond.

i should also mention that the film director, and lifelong BROOKLYNITE, DARREN ARONOFSKY once spoke about how he discovered the HUBERT SELBY JR novel LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN (GROVE PRESS, 1964) in college, saying basically that when you are from BROOKLYN anything about the borough immediately catches your attention.  that definitely came into play with my father and the BEASTIE BOYS, especially with "NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN" (with guitars supplied by non-BROOKLYNITE KERRY KING of SLAYER).  so im just letting my family's bias be known.  if this record was a bit CHILDISH, IMMATURE and MORALLY PROBLEMATIC, at least those were our idiots on the stage.

but just as GEORGE CARLIN's character states at the conclusion of BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (ORION, 1989), "they do get better."