You know what? I'm cheating by doing this. Hip hop music has got to be the most convoluted form of artistic incest known to man, what with collaborations up and down and across label rosters, remixes, concept albums, remakes, street singles vs. radio singles, beef, feuds, truces, crews, collectives, alliances. And yes, bitch, you know I had to get 'incest' up in the first post.
I, as always, digress. Linking up songs for hip hop is dead easy, because everyone's up in everyone else's business, and lines get crossed more often than Arabs get their phones tapped. Allow me to illustrate:
Marco Polo feat. Masta Ace - Nostalgia
First time I heard about Marco Polo was when he produced Pumpkinhead's 2005 LP, Orange Moon Over Brooklyn. (See how easy that was?) His own album Port Authority dropped earlier this year, and even though I'm not insane about all the tracks, dude still gets love for blessing Masta Ace with one of the dopest beats I've heard in a long time for 'Nostalgia'. I couldn't really digest the fact that Ace has certified OG status now, but it shouldn't have been all that much of a surprise. He is a member of the Juice Crew, after all, and he and Tragedy Khadafi edged out Nas from being inducted. That takes skills. Besides, Ace in his later years has been on that educational, reminiscing tip on the regular - for instance, he was already getting his rap legend on while working with:
Cunninlynguists feat. Masta Ace - Seasons
Deacon The Villain and Kno are more Outkast and Goodie Mob than Three 6 Mafia and Lil Flip on the southern scale, but on a whole other level. From their 2001 debut Will Rap For Food on down, they've been solidly churning southern fried soul with a twist. Masta Ace and guest producer RJD2 seem to be in full agreement with their raison d'etre. This is a dope song. The beat is straight ill, and the rhymes come thick with allusions and layered metaphors. Mad props to RJ, but that said I can't really see the Lynguists outsourcing all that often: they both produce sick beats. speaking of which:
Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Kno's The White Album Remix)
It's true: a remix is saying you made a mistake. In a ideal universe, Hov would have heard Kno's beat CD and got him to make this for The Black Album. Maybe it's because I'm not such a big Jay-Z fan, but I honestly can't remember what the original sounds like after listening to this version. And President Carter sounds really good here, too. He's on a beat with as much ostentatious swagger as he does. Now, when I say that I'm not really feeling Jay's work, it doesn't mean I'm hating on dude. He's held it down as one of the best that ever did it, and he's proved it in posse cuts in the past, if not so much these days (Rihanna needs him). Here's Jay (have I gone through all of his nicknames?) taking care of business by consensus:
Jay-Z feat. Scoob, Shyheim, Big Daddy Kane, Sauce Money and Old Dirty Bastard - Show and Prove
Oh you love me right now don't you. Shit is rare, so hold on to it and cherish it always. Just look at that list. I'm not as familiar with Scoob and Sauce Money as I am with the others, but damn. Each and every one of them will tear your ear a new asshole. Each emcee at or near his pinnacle, Jay included. ODB gets special RIP props, sure, but the true OG up in this is Kane, who back in the day made it a one-man mission to outshine damn near everyone on a cut, every time. There was, of course, that one time he only managed to get on par with the other dude on the mic:
Tupac Shakur feat. Big Daddy Kane - Wherever You Are
Unreleased means nothing on the innernuts. But this shit is hard to come by, so once again, genuflect upon my effortless dopeness. Kane is definitely one of the few who changed the game, along with Rakim, Kool G Rap, Chuck D and Ice Cube, but like Nas on the East Coast, Tupac took what was on the ground floor and just kept running with it. You can hear massive traces of Kane's rhyme structure in Tupac's verse, mingling with that raw anger only a short guy with no hair can bring. Psych, he might not be my GOAT but Tupac will never get the WM gasface. Besides, he kicked Kane's ass. Now, I did compare Pac to Nas, and Russell Simmons once brushed aside Mr. Jones as being a "Kane clone with a squeaky voice". (What was he on?) I mentioned Nas in the first song commentary, and his arch nemesis is on two songs up in here, so he might as well end this chain. And how:
Nas - What Goes Around
By the time this came out in 1999, Nas was nose-deep in bad beat choices, but this one shows how God's Son can come with it when you lace him with a solid loop. Salaam Remi is behind this one, as he had been for two albums before Nasir got chummy with Will I. Am and Salaam started hanging out with Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. Damned if I know who sang the bridge though. Dude's got a great voice. But Nas. Damn, son. Believe the prophecy.
There you go.
Now go listen to that shit. (That means click here, bitches.)
I, as always, digress. Linking up songs for hip hop is dead easy, because everyone's up in everyone else's business, and lines get crossed more often than Arabs get their phones tapped. Allow me to illustrate:
Marco Polo feat. Masta Ace - Nostalgia
First time I heard about Marco Polo was when he produced Pumpkinhead's 2005 LP, Orange Moon Over Brooklyn. (See how easy that was?) His own album Port Authority dropped earlier this year, and even though I'm not insane about all the tracks, dude still gets love for blessing Masta Ace with one of the dopest beats I've heard in a long time for 'Nostalgia'. I couldn't really digest the fact that Ace has certified OG status now, but it shouldn't have been all that much of a surprise. He is a member of the Juice Crew, after all, and he and Tragedy Khadafi edged out Nas from being inducted. That takes skills. Besides, Ace in his later years has been on that educational, reminiscing tip on the regular - for instance, he was already getting his rap legend on while working with:
Cunninlynguists feat. Masta Ace - Seasons
Deacon The Villain and Kno are more Outkast and Goodie Mob than Three 6 Mafia and Lil Flip on the southern scale, but on a whole other level. From their 2001 debut Will Rap For Food on down, they've been solidly churning southern fried soul with a twist. Masta Ace and guest producer RJD2 seem to be in full agreement with their raison d'etre. This is a dope song. The beat is straight ill, and the rhymes come thick with allusions and layered metaphors. Mad props to RJ, but that said I can't really see the Lynguists outsourcing all that often: they both produce sick beats. speaking of which:
Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Kno's The White Album Remix)
It's true: a remix is saying you made a mistake. In a ideal universe, Hov would have heard Kno's beat CD and got him to make this for The Black Album. Maybe it's because I'm not such a big Jay-Z fan, but I honestly can't remember what the original sounds like after listening to this version. And President Carter sounds really good here, too. He's on a beat with as much ostentatious swagger as he does. Now, when I say that I'm not really feeling Jay's work, it doesn't mean I'm hating on dude. He's held it down as one of the best that ever did it, and he's proved it in posse cuts in the past, if not so much these days (Rihanna needs him). Here's Jay (have I gone through all of his nicknames?) taking care of business by consensus:
Jay-Z feat. Scoob, Shyheim, Big Daddy Kane, Sauce Money and Old Dirty Bastard - Show and Prove
Oh you love me right now don't you. Shit is rare, so hold on to it and cherish it always. Just look at that list. I'm not as familiar with Scoob and Sauce Money as I am with the others, but damn. Each and every one of them will tear your ear a new asshole. Each emcee at or near his pinnacle, Jay included. ODB gets special RIP props, sure, but the true OG up in this is Kane, who back in the day made it a one-man mission to outshine damn near everyone on a cut, every time. There was, of course, that one time he only managed to get on par with the other dude on the mic:
Tupac Shakur feat. Big Daddy Kane - Wherever You Are
Unreleased means nothing on the innernuts. But this shit is hard to come by, so once again, genuflect upon my effortless dopeness. Kane is definitely one of the few who changed the game, along with Rakim, Kool G Rap, Chuck D and Ice Cube, but like Nas on the East Coast, Tupac took what was on the ground floor and just kept running with it. You can hear massive traces of Kane's rhyme structure in Tupac's verse, mingling with that raw anger only a short guy with no hair can bring. Psych, he might not be my GOAT but Tupac will never get the WM gasface. Besides, he kicked Kane's ass. Now, I did compare Pac to Nas, and Russell Simmons once brushed aside Mr. Jones as being a "Kane clone with a squeaky voice". (What was he on?) I mentioned Nas in the first song commentary, and his arch nemesis is on two songs up in here, so he might as well end this chain. And how:
Nas - What Goes Around
By the time this came out in 1999, Nas was nose-deep in bad beat choices, but this one shows how God's Son can come with it when you lace him with a solid loop. Salaam Remi is behind this one, as he had been for two albums before Nasir got chummy with Will I. Am and Salaam started hanging out with Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. Damned if I know who sang the bridge though. Dude's got a great voice. But Nas. Damn, son. Believe the prophecy.
There you go.
Now go listen to that shit. (That means click here, bitches.)
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