Hip Hop History

Last Tuesday, while everyone was praying to Yeezus, I picked up Extended Play, the new album by DJ/producer Statik Selektah. And when I say "picked up" I mean, "downloaded after I freed up enough memory on my phone." I've become a fan of his over the last few years through his Thursday night show on SiriusXM's Shade 45, Showoff Radio. He's an East Coast guy, close to my age who shares my appreciation for scaled-down, grimy 90's style beats with well placed classic samples. Throw in a solid lineup of spitters like Action Bronson, Joey Bada$$/Pro Era, Mac Miller, Sean Price, and Noreaga among numerous others, and the album does not disappoint (except for 30 seconds of dead air at the end of Track 14, "Love & War." I wonder if it was a mistake).

So thanks to Statik and my other favorite Sirius DJs like Tony Touch and Kayslay, I've been hearing a lot of great hip-hop lately. Almost every guest on these shows mentions that their mix tape is on Dat Piff. That's often where I go to hear the latest "fire."Speaking of which, check out Chris Rivers. There's a Three Dog Night sample! And he mentions Nikolai Volkoff!

He did some ridiculous shit "off the top" on Kayslay's show the other day. Slay would just shout stuff out in the middle of the freestyle, and Rivers would rhyme off it. Insane.

So yeah, I've been pretty into hip-hop lately. I've pretty much always liked it, but my relationship with it is complicated in a way. I suppose that's a common issue for white suburban youths. Before Extended Play, I bought Nas' latest, Life is Good, but I'd never owned another Nas album, even though he's my favorite MC. And to my knowledge, I've only owned one or two "classic" hip-hop albums (more on that in a moment). I'm terrible with a lot of the classic lyrics, and many of my friends have much stronger hip-hop knowledge and sense of history. I mean, I'm not trying to defend my record here. But I guess I'm late to the game in becoming an avid follower of the genre. I was more into punk throughout high school.  Here is every rap/hip-hop album I've ever owned, in near chronological order.

I had the cassette tape.

Also had the tape. Thanks Aunt Judy.

Duh.

Mr. Wendal, yeeaahh. Oh, Mr. Wendal.

"Forget Tony Danza, I'm the boss."

I didn't even smoke weed back then!
But I could imagine how annoying it was
when cops would come and try to snatch their crops.

None of them were black, but "Tap the Bottle"
was a straight BANGER.

Ok, now I've got some credibility. "Wicked" anyone? 

Let me talk about "The Predator" for a moment. This was a scary album that talked about scary things. It was my first introduction to street life. Ice Cube seemed like the hardest dude on the planet. Now he does shitty Coors Light ads. Oh well. Besides the aforementioned "Wicked" which I think is one of the best records OF ALL TIME, this album also gave us "Check Yourself" and "Today Was a Good Day." I think this qualifies as a classic album.

I smuggled this album into my house.

Another classic. I went to the mall with my dad. He let me go off on my own because he was cool like dat. I bought the album from, I think it was Sam Goody, threw out the bag and the receipt, and shoved the CD down my pants because I knew there was no way my parents would let me keep it if they saw it. I then hid it under the car seat until which time I deemed it safe to retrive. This was a strategy I should have employed with my next purchase...












*


* "Slam" was everywhere in '93-'94, and I bought the album on the strength of their ubiquitous single. They were so angry! Being in middle school and having pulled off "Operation 2Pac" I figured I could have whatever music I wanted. But it turned out that albums with songs called "Blac Vagina Finda" were not allowed in my home. My mother was so disgusted. We returned the album immediately. She would not let the boys be boys.

I am the only person who bought their second album.

I am the only person who bought their second album.

I forget why I bought this album. Pretty good though.

Mostly forgettable. Bought it because of the Beasties
sample on "Drop."

Speaking of The Beastie Boys, they were my flat-out favorite band from about 7th to 10th grade. I had almost all their albums. Check Your Head and Ill Communication were my favorites. But I'm not including them on this list. They draw from such a wide range of styles, I don't think they qualify. But they had a massive influence on me and would set me up for my punk-ish high school and college years.

We round it out with two J5 albums. Quality Control was great in its day, but I don't think it holds up that well. I couldn't tell you a thing about Power in Numbers other than it was released in 2002. I hear their live shows are good.

So that's it.  That's my hip-hop history. It's not great, I know, but I think I'm making up for lost time. We are in a new golden age. Keep your ears open.

What are some of your hip hop memories?

Untitled

Oh hello. Been a while since I wrote. I've talked some (good natured) shit to writers on the Internet lately, so now I have to write on the Internet. Whatever it takes, right?

My last post dealt in part, with my anxiety about my first visit home after Hurricane Sandy. How could I not write a follow up?! What's my problem?!

I would compare the experience of seeing my decimated neighborhood to a dream. Not even necessarily a nightmare, but a dream. You know how when you're dreaming and things are crazy, but it seems kinda normal at the time, then you wake up and you're like, "Woah that shit was weird"? It was kind of like that.

What I saw was devastating, but surreal. I was warily accepting of it in a similar way to the dream state I just described. I wasn't emotional, I was just there. Taking it all in.

Almost seven months after the storm and about five months after my visit, my mother is getting close to moving home. The inspectors have inspected and things are looking good, and she's lucky. But even if she and my grandmother moved home tomorrow, the rest of the neighborhood is still pretty much as it was in the days after the storm. The progress has been amazing in some areas, and almost non-existent in others. I'm going home again this summer. It will be a different kind of summer, but the smell of the salty air that has been implanted in the part of my brain that stores smell memories will still be there. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. 

But I can't write about this without mentioning Moore, Oklahoma. I think I speak for everyone from or connected to the Shore when I say I'm viewing the aftermath of the tornadoes in a totally different light than I would have pre-Sandy. Empathy as opposed to sympathy (sympathy is usually bullshit). Having family not far from there made it even more stressful. But let's face it, Oklahoma is worse. Isn't it? Breezy Point and the Shore and Red Hook and The Rockaways had warning, were battered over a matter of hours, and there were very few fatalities.

Moore was leveled in minutes with almost no warning and entire classes of kids were killed. If this were a real blog read by the masses, some shit head would probably say something like, "And those were all rich people's Summer homes in Jersey!" Well, not all of them and also, so what? It still sucks. But yes, Moore is probably worse. And they've got a long road ahead of them. Why do I feel the need to rank the shittiness? I don't know.


So what else? Well I have started the process of changing the surfer tattoo on my back into a golfer tattoo. The problem is, I can't call myself a surfer because I don't surf and I can't call myself a golfer because I suck. But I'm getting better. I'm finally starting to understand the physiology of the swing and I can recognize what my good swing feels like. I've really been obsessed with the game lately. Are there underlying father-issues at work? Oh yes. If you've read my crap before, you know the answer is yes. I don't want this to be a diary, but it usually turns out that way. My next post will be more outward looking. I might talk about hip-hop. There are some spitters coming up these days! And these guys have a great grasp on social media. Sit back and take notes.

No pictures. Just words.