http://hotfile.com/dl/17176181/dcd8d2c/Ill_Be_There_For_You_EP.zip.html
I was digging around a few days ago, as I'm prone to do, and I found this. I really liked the LP version, All I Need, and then this came out and just blew up. It was a big hit for Meth, #3 on the Billboard singles chart and #1 on the rap chart, according to wikipedia, which is as much research as I'm willing to do at the moment (trust me it was big). And, you have to hand it to Puffy, he produced, or remixed, a real nice song and Mary J. Blige was a nice addition on the chorus. Like I said, back in 1995, this song was all over the place, including MTV, which (here comes the old man rant) used to play videos.
The Razor Sharp mix from RZA is also nice to have for those of you that might not own this (and a great mix), or just found out who Method Man is, if that's possible. There's also one additional track, What the Blood Clot, which you can find on Tical.
Anyway, I've been listening to both versions for a couple days and thought I'd throw it up here.
11/09/2009
Method Man - I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need to Get By
11/04/2009
This or That: Method Man vs The Remix
It's been awhile since we've done a "This or That", that all popular series where we debate the classics in the hip hop history. We've pit classic albums against classic albums, usually by the same artists, just so it has some kind of relevance in the comparisons. I thought this time around, for time purposes and my own general curiosity, we would feature songs this time around. Actually it's the same song, the original version and the remix of that said song. What song am I speaking about? Well, I had a couple songs in mind, one we'll save for a later time, but this week, we'll be discussing the Method Man song, "Method Man".
Wu-Tang Clan - Method Man (Enter The 36 Chambers, 1993)
Meth's self titled song first appeared on the classic "Enter The 36 Chambers", in 1993. It was Meth's solo introduction to the world, as it was the b-side to the Wu's first single "Protect Ya Neck" that dropped a good four to six months before the album was released on Loud Records. From the early interviews, Method Man was the general consensus of containing the most charisma from the bunch, which lead to the idea of giving him a chance to shine on the solo tip.
Undoubtedly, you've heard the song a few hundred times in your life, if not more. Myself, I was immediately blown away the first time I heard the song. I had snagged the cassingle after reading about this new hip hop group that was ready to take the world by swarm in The Source magazine one month. It was a few months before the album dropped, sometime late that summer. While I thought "Protect Ya Neck" was a great song, "Method Man", hooked me and I wouldn't stop playing it for a good year. Soon enough, the single would have it's own video as well, which would made the song even more powerful.
The production is classic RZA at the time, and one of the reasons why RZA is considered one of the five best producers to ever touch the boards. The sparse keys, rumbling bass, the dusty flavor, it all adds to the appeal of the track. Of course Meth just does his thing lyrically. I would spit word for word along with the rhymes, entrenching Meth as my favorite Wu member and one of my favorite MCs at the time. With his slow and deliberate drawl made it easy to memorize the lyrics, which were catchy and memorable in the first place:
You don't know me and you don't know my style
Who be gettin flam when they come to a jam?
Here I am here I am, the Method Man
Patty cake patty cake hey the method man
Don't eat Skippy, Jif or Peter Pan
Peanut butter, cuz I'm not butter
In fact I snap back like a rubber
band, I be Sam, Sam I am
And I dont eat green eggs and ham
Style will hit ya, wham!, then goddamn
You be like oh shit that's the jam
Turn it up now hear me get buckwu-wu-wild
I'm about to blow light me up
Upside downside inside and outside
Hittin you from every angle there's no doubt
I am, the one and only Method Man
The master of the plan wrappin shit like Saran
Wrap, with some of this and some of that
Hold up (what?) I tawt I tat I putty tat
Over there, but I think he best to beware
Of the diggy dog shit right here
Yippy yippy yay yippy yah yippy yo
Like Deck said this aint your average flow
Comin like rah ooh ah achie kah
Tell me how ya like it so far baby paw
The poetry's in motion coast to coast and
Rub it on your skin like lotion
What's the commotion, oh my lord
Another corn chopped by the Wu-Tang sword
Hey hey hey like Fat Albert
It's the Method Man ain't no if ands about it
It's the Method
It's a song that The Source included in their top 100 Hip Hop Singles of all-time this blog, particular me, had it ranked at #28 on my all-time favorite songs list. It's an excellent introduction to one of the more important MCs and groups to grace the hip hop landscape (no matter what Joe Buddens says).
Method Man - Method Man (Remix) (Tical, 1994)
Like a high grossing movie needs a sequel, every hot song needs a remix. In the early/mid 90's, a "remix" was a little different. The term and idea hadn't been corrupted by the concept of putting a bunch of hot artists of the moment and rap over the same beat. Puffy would introduce that idea of a remix a few years later with "Flava In Your Ear". Nope instead, Method Man and the Wu-Tang Clan would come with a new beat, although similar to the original and new lyrics. Tucked in at the end of the "Tical" album, the song originally appeared on the on a couple promos, one as the b-side for "The Mystery of Chessboxin" and another as it's own original promo.
The "new" beat incorporates a lot of the original ideas and sounds, with the sparse piano key sample making an appearance. They seem to be louder and somewhat altered in tone and pitch. In some ways I would almost say it's a slightly darker beat than the original with some Bomb Squadish trills and weird sounds going on the composition, basically it's a lot busier beat. It basically oozes that nasty funk that made me love Erick Sermon production during this same time period. RZA did the same type of thing, but with that Kung-Fu type of flair to it.
While I don't know story behind this remix, I would gamble to say Meth wrote the lyrics a little later after the original. Not that they are any better than the original, which might have the more catchier lines, but Meth's rhymes on the remix seemed more complex in some areas. It was still classic Method Man dropping:
Let me get raw with my southpaw style
Mover, puffin' on a fat blunt from Cuba
It's the Meth-Tical jet to Cal, I'm the buddha
Monk on the hunt for machine gun funk
I keeps you open like a slug from the shotgun punk
Double-barrel, yeah Meth bring it to them proper
Partner, you ain't got no wins in me casa
Straight up, you movin' too fast so baby wait up
Took one, added seven more now you eight up
Get on down wit' your bad self
Get on down, listen to the sound, come on
Few can ever get this whole commit legit
See you all up in my dick
But you don't know shit, uh-huh
What's your definition of a real emcee
From what you dedicated, hey it must be me
Meth-Tical, a lewd descendant of the loud hip-hop
I go on to the break of dawn, and just don't stop
Give me the green light, and the sign one way
Have you had your meth today
Huh, move it in, move it out
Stick it in, pull it out
Shake it up, shake it down
Come on down, Meth-Tical
Oh I often pray that I will
But today I am still
Just a...
Coming in at only two verses is a disappointment in someways and he seems to get kind of sloppy on spitting the second verse. Yes, we love Meth's "spray it and say it" rhyme style, but it's just not as tight on the second verse. All in all, the song is near classic in my book, just for the simple fact that it keeps a lot of the same things that made the original such a great song, but it adds enough to it to make it seem like a new song.
The Verdict
At one time in my life, I played the original version of "Method Man" so many times that I enjoyed the "newness" that the remix brought. It felt like a second chapter in a good book that is Method Man. But as the years creep on, you can't argue against a song that might be slicker and less abrasive than it's remix, but it's a classic and you can't go against the memories that the song conjures up in the mind. I think ultimately I like the beat a bit more on the remix, but dig the lyrics more on the original. In the end, it's the original. Vote for your favorite in the poll in the upper left hand corner.
3/01/2008
WTR Meets WYDU Presents: I Love The 90's (1994 Part IV)
Medthod Man - Tical (Def Jam) 
Released: November 15th, 1994
When the Wu dropped in '93, shit was crazy. They were like nothing anyone had really seen at the time, at least on a large scale, and as a complete unit. In simple man terms, the blew the fuck up. Everybody was on the to coat tails of the mighty Wu-Tang Clan. You had eight strong lyricists all moving in one direction as one entity. It was an amazing thing at the time. Everyone had their own favorite member. Some dudes were all about the crazy lyrical style of Ol' Dirty Bastard, others thought the technical lyrical approach of the Genius made him one of the best MC's in the game. Others such as myself were sucked into the total package of lyrics, delivery and charisma of Method Man.
The Source ran a little blurb about the Wu when they were still putting out "Protect Ya Neck" out by themselves. Something about eight dudes combining in one group kind piqued my interest. Eventually I would track down the cassette single of "Protect Ya Neck" when Loud released it and while I thought the track was pretty dope, it was the b-side that snagged my interest, which was the Method Man solo track. The dude was amazing on the mic. I just dug his whole style. From then on out, Meth would be my favorite Wu member. After the meteoritic rise of the Wu, it was announced that members would be getting their own solo deals and releasing albums. Good news for the fans, but people were wondering who would be first to drop. The RZA made the smart move and went with the artist with the most potential for super stardom, Method Man. He would drop his solo debut album, Tical, that fall. That fall was FULL of dope releases. Ever week it seemed like I was picking up some killer release. This album was no different.
I'm sure some heads will say that Meth has never truly lived up to his potential, which might be true in some ways, but I still say "Tical" is a dope album overall. As mentioned, this was the first of the solo Wu projects, and it set shit off proper like. The first single from the album would be "Bring The Pain", a dope track, that I've always felt like it was somewhat overlooked in the dopeness that was '94. The RZA, who produced the entire album, drops a beat that makes you wonder what the fuck happened to him. The bassline is supplemented with a vocal humming sample that gives the track a dark and gritty feel. You throw the video that was released with the album, and you have a classic track. The video shows a scary lookin' Meth (rumor was he was dusted during the video shoot) basically being Meth, ride a bus across a dark and dingy city.
The year of '94 was personally one of my favorite years of my life. I have many memories from the year and this album was just one of the soundtracks I had going that year. I remember grabbing this album the day it dropped because I had been eagerly anticipating this for awhile. The first joint was the title track, "Tical". Just the way it started off gave me goosebumps (sorry D). It was a classic RZA track, full of the kung-fu samples and dusty drums. Method drops memorable line after memorable line. "Biscuits" was one of my personal favorite tracks. It was kind of strange with the way it started out, with the keys but then the bassline drops and shit got to thumpin'. This track would rattle in Jimmy back in the day. "Meth Vs. Chef" is a dope collabo with Raekwon and made for an interesting concept as the two went back and forth at each other. "Sub Crazy" was another ill bass track and Method just flowed on this track, which demonstrates that when Meth is on top of his game, dude has one of the best flows in the game. "PLO Style" was another track might have gotten slept on by some people, I always pumped it regularly. The guest appearance of Carlton Fisk is another one of those debut guest appearances that I found incredibly ill. You still hear Carlton Fisk every once in awhile, but I truly expected bigger things from him at the time. The posse cut of "Mr. Sandman" is ill in the fact that they used Blue Raspberry for the vocals and everyone comes off incredibly nice with their verses.
Then of course the album version of "All I Need" was overshadowed by the remixes on the single. It just seemed to be lacking the same energy that some of the other tracks. The only track I didn't really care for was "I Get My Thang In Action", which wasn't really lacking anything other than it just wasn't on the same level as the other tracks.
When asking people what the best solo Wu release, you won't hear anyone say "Tical", and for good reason. The first three Ghost releases, Raekwon's "Only Built..", and GZA's "Liquid Swords" are all better albums, but "Tical" will always be among my all-time favorites just because of the time in my life it came out. It will always be associated with the good times in my life. The album is nothing to sneeze at. As of right now, it's the best overall complete release from Method, but if any of his recent performances are any indications, we might be seeing another banger from Johnny Blaze in the near future.
Shadz Of Lingo - A View To A Kill
Released: Febuary 8th, 1994
1. Different Stylez (Prod. By Diamond D)
2. Mad Flavaz (Prod. Erick Sermon)
3. Ill & Get Clowned (Prod. Diamond D)
4. Wherez Da Steel (Prod. Dallas "That Ain't Weed" Austin)
5. Psychopathic Interlude (Prod. Madness 4 Real)
6. View To A Kill (Prod. Madness 4 Real)
7. Think I Give A F--K (Prod. Diamond D
8. Don't Test Da Skillz (Prod. Diamond D)
9. Crossfade Flow
10. I Step 2 U Den (Prod. Madness 4 Real)
11. Alwayz Stylin (Prod. Dallas Austin)
First for the year 1994, is a release from an Atlanta via Richmond, Virgina group Shadz Of Lingo. Shadz consisted of two MC's, Lingo M & Kolorado, and DJ Rocko. My first experience, as I think anyone's that heard them during this time, was on Erick Sermon's debut solo LP, No Pressure (another personal favorite of mine) on the track Lil' Crazy that dropped in 93', that if you read last weeks reviews of 1993, you would have read already (there will be a quiz after this year, ha). In 94' they dropped their debut and only LP, A View To A Kill. It would have moderate commercial success, but I've always thought of it as one of the better over looked hip hop albums from a year, and era for that matter, that was packed with classics.
By no means was this a classic album in the general consensus, but for me, it got a lot of play. Both beats and MC's attracted me to this release. With Diamond D lending his hand to four tracks on the LP, that alone was almost worth the price of admission. If I need to remind you what Diamond was doing during this era, then there is a little LP called Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop released two years prior to this by Diamond that might give you an idea what kind of quality these four tracks are. The album kicks off with a Diamond beat on Different Stylez that gets the listener into the mood of some dope hip hop. With it's jazzy sax sample and vocal loop, this is one of the better Diamond beats I've heard and that's saying a lot. Erick Sermon produced only one track, the lead single Mad Flavaz, which sounds like most of the Funk Lords tracks during this time. E Double also drops the only guest appearance on the whole album on the track. Dallas Austin, who executive produced the album, also drops two tracks, both of which are surprisingly good. Wherez Da Steel is an Austin banger that utilizes a nice scream sample on the chorus that adds to the spazzed out track. The track though is highlighted by the dope flow Lingo M posses.
It's no secret that there were a lot of gimmicks being kicked around on the majority of hip hop releases in the 90's and Shadz were no exception. The dropped the "crossfade flow" to the world. It's not that they used it extensively on the album, but Lingo M drops it on numerous tracks on the album. It's nothing more than having his voice bounce back in forth in the listeners headphones. It gives kind of a weird listening experience and some might find annoying, but I've grown used to it over the years. Lingo M seems to get the most shine on the album. He has one of the better voices and flow that I've heard, very unique in the grand scheme of things. He also has the presence on the mic to grab the listeners attention. This is evident on the short Psychopathic Interlude that I used to know word by word, and is populated with some great one liners. Lingo M is definitely the better MC, but Kolorado plays Phife to Lingo's Q-Tip. He's not bad by any of the sense of the imagination, but tends to get over shadowed by his rhyme partner.
As I said, the album isn't a classic by any means. It does have a few wink links here and there. Step 2 U Den is a jam for the honeys that is strictly filler. Ill & Get Clowned is kind of juvenile with it's approach and kind of a waste of a good Diamond beat. But tracks like Different Stylez, Mad Flavaz, Wherez Da Steel, Think I Give A F--K, Don't Test Da Skillz and Alwayz Stylin. It's a must in any heads collection and it's still fairly easy to find (I used to see qu ite a few in my neck of the woods) and fairly inexpensive, going for anywhere from 4-6 bucks for the CD and around 8-9 bucks on for the wax and can be found on E-bay.
Grand Daddy I.U. - Lead Pipe
1. Represent
2. As I Flow On
3. We Got da Gats
4. I Can Do Dat
5. Don't Stress Me
6. Real Mack
7. Boom Wha Dat
8. Blast a New Asshole
9. Slinging Bass
10. Wet 'Em Up
11. Dead Men Don't Talk
12. Take It from da Top
13. Time to Die
14. Low Key
15. Shout Outs
16. Represent [The Grinch & Hill Remix]
Grand Daddy I.U. - Lead Pipe: In Which Polarity Recycles An Old Review He Had to Write to Pass College…(and Travis is strapped for time, so it gets more recycled time)
If you’ve perused the used hip hop section of your local record store recently, there’s a high chance you’ve seen a copy of Lead Pipe (or maybe even a few copies) sitting there gathering dust. Albums with such a ubiquitous presence in the second hand racks can generally be thrown onto one of two piles. In the first are the overlooked gems that have never gotten their due respect (Brand Nubian’s Foundation, for instance). In the second, the junk which surely no sane listener could ever want polluting their music collection (atrocious kiddie Miami Bass rappers The Puppies anyone?) So where in the spectrum does Lead Pipe fall?
Grand Daddy I.U. was one of the last members of the Juice Crew / Cold Chillin’ empire to release an album, dropping the superb Biz Markie-produced Smooth Assassin in 1990. For whatever reason, his sophomore effort Lead Pipe didn’t come out until four years later, by which time the laid-back suit-wearing pimp attitude that personified Smooth Assassin had been succeeded by rowdy thugs rocking jeans, hoodies and Timberlands.
In an attempt to compete with the Black Moons, Onyxes, Biggies and Wu Tang Clans running the east coast scene in 1994, Daddy completely switched up his steez. Whereas on his debut he was dappered in silk suits and lyrically outmacking contemporaries such as Big Daddy Kane and King Sun, here he’s tipping back forty ounces, swinging the eponymous lead pipe (with his name painted on it!) and cooking up creative song titles such as ‘We Got Da Gats’ and ‘Represent’.
The success of Grand Daddy’s attempts at mid-nineties style ruggedness are mixed. The aforementioned ‘Represent’ features a predictably shouty hook before the beat (self-produced, like the majority of the album) breaks down to a smoother horn-tinged instrumental that is well suited to I.U.’s vocal tone. Unfortunately, lyrics such as ‘The only remains is blood stains, spilt brains and broke bones / You step in my face with the gauge you get smoked homes’ are far from convincing, especially when followed by thoroughly preposterous lines like ‘My skills are nastier than a fart after eatin’ a raw egg’ (?!)
On the record’s nadir ‘We Got Da Gats’, Daddy does his ‘best’ impersonation of Onyx, switching his voice and pulling overused lyrics like ‘I smoke so many niggas my gun got cancer’ out of his cliché cache. ‘Dead Men Don’t Talk’, meanwhile, is memorable only for biting both Kool G Rap and Das EFX in a single verse.
Lead Pipe does have its moments though, and occasionally recaptures the magic of Smooth Assassin. ‘As I Flow On’, ‘Don’t Stress Me’ and ‘Da Real Mack’ are all smooth jams that veer just on the right side of cheesiness as I.U. flexes his ‘vocal tone that’s smooth just like Barry White’. The contrast of songs like these against junk like ‘We Got Da Gats’ and ‘Slinging Bass’ just goes to highlight the shortcomings of the majority of the album.
The only skippable song on Smooth Assassin was ‘Gals Dem So Hot’ an ill-advised attempt at ragga. I guess no-one told I.U. his singing sucks, because Lead Pipe features not one but two similarly wretched Jamaican crossovers, ‘Boom Wha Dat’ and ‘Time To Die’ which further dilute the potency an already mediocre album.
In other words, there’s a reason why 95% of the copies of Lead Pipe manufactured are dying a slow death in used music stores around the world. With the exception of a handful of tracks, this album sucks, and rightfully flopped commercially. I.U. kept a real low profile for the next 10 years, producing a couple of tracks on Heltah Skeltah’s equally horrific sophomore slump Magnum Force in 1998 and not much else. However, despite the played-out title, his ‘I Be Thuggin’ b/w ‘Mack of the Year’ single released last year was a very fine return to form and is hopefully indicative of good things for the future.
Trav's 2 Cents: He is pretty much right on, nothing great on this. I'm sure Po would want it to be known that Grand Daddy's "Stick To The Script" is an excellent album and well worth checking out, which we wanted people to know since it seems to be unnoticed as of late.
Words from Polarity
Mad Flava - From The Ground Unda
(Priority) Released: April 12th, 1994
While the early 90's was full of innovation and creativity, for every new style, there was ten other MC's riding the jock. Look no further than the diggidy iggidy craze after Das came on the scene. Even Ice Cube was bitin' their style. It was a problem then, it's a problem now and it'll probably always be a problem. I lump the Dallas Texas group, Mad Flava into a carbon copy phase as well. The group consisted of Cold Chris the Soulman, Don Kasaan, DJ Baby G the Cut Selectah and producer Erich “Hype Dawg” KrauseIf you listen to the production, you would swear that DJ Muggs are DJ Lethal of the Soul Assassins produced these tracks and that either Everlast or one of the cats from Young Black Teenagers. With that said, I can't just brush this album to the side. In those days when this was dropped, I didn't really know any better, and I really dug the album. It's kind of stuck on me since then.
If you are going to bite someones style, then the Soul Assassin flava of that era was a good one to bite. Lots of raw bassliness, horns and crazy sirens, which if you know me, I'm a sucka for. The production is busy and has a lot going on it, which attracted me to the album almost immediately. Interestingly enough, the album is produced by Total Track, better known as Courtney Branch and Tracey Kendrick, who are somewhat unheralded legends in the West Coast hip hop scene. They first showed up in '85 on the LA Dream Team song "Rockberry Jam" and have been involved with other west coast artists such as AMG, DJ Quik, and Slyk Smoov. There are lots of interesting beats on this album, with the single "Feel The Flava" probably stealing the declaration of the best from me. This very "House of Pain-ish" sounding track is equipped with a loud siren and some buzzing with some sprinkin' of piano keys and a hard drum track was the first single that I heard from them (they did have a couple independent singles the year before in '93) and the first from the album.
Lyrically, I don't think Cold Chris, who held most of the rhyming responsibility was anything special or incredible, but he handled his duties well enough. A lot of the tracks sound like something you have heard somewhere else, whether it be the topics or the concepts of the songs. "Bump Ya Head" sounds like something I've heard on an Ali Dee project, "I Like 2 Smoke Weed & Listen 2 Hip Hop" sounds like something that would be included on a Young Black Teenagers album. There are plenty of other examples, but I'll save it.
Chances are if you are listening to this album for the first time, you'll probably end up writing it off fairly quickly. Listening to it while doing this write up, I'm not really sure what I saw in it, but it does contain some intriguing aspects which while keep this little jewel in my collection. I'm not really sure why, but this album is going for fifty bucks and more on Amazon.com. I was lucky enough to pick this up in Denver for seven bucks. I was happy to find it then, but it's certainly not worth fifty bucks.
5/22/2007
Tuesday Lite
With summer coming, it means we are in that season where some song will become our summer anthem and will have the possibility to become immortalized in our memories for the rest of our lives. Sometimes, it’s some classic song, other times, it might even be a song we don’t even like, but it made it’s mark in our memories and becomes associated with a particular summer. It happened to me in ’03, I was unemployed after the company I worked for decided to head south of the border after quarter after quarter of seeing red after the whole 9/11 debacle. The company employed around 1,000 people at it’s height and a group of us became pretty tight knit, partying together, playing Madden together, playing softball and the fact we went through a company shut down, it made us even tighter. Since it was a fairly large company getting shut down and the fact the economy wasn’t very good in the first place, we all automatically received a year’s unemployment. You still had to do all the things you had to do on unemployment (it was my first time), like look for a job, but trust me, we didn’t look to hard. Even if we did look, we got a “no thank you” and a door in our face most of the time. We ended up getting NAFTA (North American Free Trade Act) which is how I ended up in
ype of stuff a lot when I was around them. It was also our “theme” song for our softball team, which wasn’t all that bad, for being 4-5 beers into it by the time our games would start. Trying for a rally? Magic Stick. Swingin’ like the
You would think this would be a good lead off into a summer song mix or songs of summers past for the “lite” side of things, but I’m saving that for another time and for another blog. I could be turning into the Busta Rhymes of blogging, if I ever get my ass in gear and finish the posts for the three guest appearances I have been asked to do. Regardless, be looking for my summer time post coming to you a blog near you. Just don’t think this rules out a summer theme WYDU Classics in the future.
No real connecting theme this time, just some stuff I found while going through some of my old disks of music I had laying around.
Sticky Fingaz – Jackin’ For Beats ’99
Before my addiction to the Black Album remixes, I had an addiction to the “Jack
in’ For Beats” tracks that were coming out at a weekly clip at one time. I loved the original from Cube, I’m not sure what it was, but it just got me amped. In ’99, Sticky Fingaz released his version of “Jackin’ For Beats” complete with a 50 cent dis and some GREAT lines. You can’t help wanting to get up and punch someone while listening to this version. This is right when Sticky went solo and it was a great way to throw his hat in the ring. He jacked bigged name stars such as Jay, Nas, and Busta, and in some cases, sounded better on the beats than the original artist. That was the reason Cubes original version became so wildly popular in the first place. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I quickly became cured of the “Jackin’ For Beats” obsession when I realized that most of these songs sucked. The only other one I’d suggest is Slug’s “Jackin’ For Freaks”.
Princess Superstar feat J-Zone – I Love You, Or At Least I Like You
Now you know I’m not including this because of Princess Superstar, who
is some techno/trip hop DJ, I think. I'd throw it in her, but she’s doesn't really do my type of music. The real reason for this is J-Zone. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know my fondness for Zone’s music. The dude is hilarious with his lyrics and just brings fun back to hip hop and this joint is no different. This is the ultimate pimp song with Zone spitting lines like “…if you want to give me the ass, first give me the cash..” or “young ladies wanna swallow mine, not until I see dollar signs”, yeah your basic locker room humor, but the way Zone and Princess Superstar go back and forth at each other, it’s just good plain fun ignorance. This song would make Jarred from Subway ready to go mack on some females. Zone didn’t do the beat, but that doesn’t take away from the song. All true Zone fans need to check this out. Don’t bother if you are easily offended.
Three Times Dope – No Words (Mental Mutations Mix)
I think this was the one someone asked for last week. Someone else posted the track up last year and I forgot I had it. I found it while digging through some files on my computer.
Double XX Posse – Headcracker (Remix)
While we are on the subject of remixes, I’ll throw this track in there as well. The original is one of my favorite tracks of the ‘90’s, it was just raw as fuck. The remix isn’t as good as the orginal, but doesn’t take away from the greatness of the original either. There is dope ass bassline and a killer horn loop on the hook that just keeps as raw as a hooker that’s on her 50th customer of the day.
Limp Bizkit feat DMX, Method Man & Redman – Keep Rollin’ (Remix)
Yeah, it’s Limp Bizkit, I know what you are thinking and you are right, Limp Bizkit is horrible and doesn’t belong on this blog. Just ignore Fred Durst’s whiny ass for the first minute or so and this track isn’t all that bad with Meth and Red stealing the show. I should know who produced this track, it sounds familiar, but I can’t. It sounds like some Asian sample interloped into a drum track. Red and Meth are typical Red and Meth and come with tight verses. DMX is DMX, I’ve never cared for him all that much as far as quality hip hop, but he is okay in the clubs. The main reason I put this up is someone last week said they were collecting Redman verses, well not too many hip hop heads are going to have this, and with good reason. Think of this as step below of “All In Together Now” that was, ahem, pretty good.
Trav’s Top Spins For The Week
1. Marco Polo – Port Authority
I still stand by description of it last week, lots of fast-forwarding going on, but some real gems on here. I’m amazed at the variety of artists he has on it though, everything from Wordsworth to JoJo Pellagrino. It was bound to make for an uneven effort just on that detail, but I admire the chance he took and you can’t really nail down a “sound” for Marco Polo, which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.
5. Cunninlynguists – A Piece of Strange
Why????
Why are the Pirates doomed to be shitty forever? Is there really a curse of Barry Bonds going on there? By the way, FUCK Barry Bonds
Why can’t I wait for football season, even though I have a baaaad feeling about the Steelers?
Why is it the coolest fucking thing since…..well since
Why is getting drunk at Coors field a whole lot more fun than actually watching the game, especially when said game is 15-2?
Why can’t I find a softball team to roll with this summer? Although I haven’t looked that hard after the Meteorology dept softball team from school fell through from the lack of women.
Why does Rawkus deem it necessary to start a hip-hop version of myspace? I haven’t looked at it yet, but I’ve seen numerous myspace bulletins from groups asking people to join them in some race between 50 groups to get the most friends. When I looked I knew 18 groups and only about 8 of those did I really like. It was nice to see the
Why did I go see Paul Wall a week ago? Well, because they were free tickets. I won’t even say who was on the rest of the bill. But I do want to thank the person who hooked me up with the tickets (you know who you are), despite it not being my kind of music, enough beers and anything is fun and I did have a good time.
Why do I not believe the rumors about a Grand Puba album produced entirely by Lord Finesse?
Why did I nearly shit my pants when I saw the $52.00 price tag on that Buckwild Rare 2 disc Studio sessions that I saw in the store last week? I like Buck, but not for 52 bucks.
Why I haven’t heard that Marley & KRS One collabo yet?
Why are they re-releasing (or finally releasing) all these great albums like the Ill Biskits and the deluxe version of Masta Ace’s “Take A Look Around”. Not that I’m bitching.
Why haven’t they re-released Nine’s albums yet? Dammit!
Why do I have more trips planned this summer than money? My best friend has won $15,000 at online poker this past month and he is trying for a seat at the World Series of Poker. I told him if he made it, I’d be his entourage in Vegas during the event. Shit, the way he is winning, he can pay my entourage fee that I charge.
Why am I more excited about seeing Al Green and Etta James more than anything else this summer on the concert circuit.
Why am I hesitant to go see that tour with Felt, Living Legends and others? I guess besides Felt, I really could care less for anybody else on the bill, but as mentioned before, beer and an outside concert almost makes a crying hillbilly country singer listenable.
Why have I only been storm chasing three times this year when it’s been a great spring for it (from a storm chasers point of view). I was in the county that the Greensberg,
When did making cute little pictures out of keyboard symbols become gully? That’s GANGSTA!
Why did I make it on the mailing list of every upcoming producer, website, and wannabe MC that I can’t even read my email anymore? Some of it’s cool, but it’s becoming too much.
Why do I want to have a threesome with
Vanessa Carlton & Nelly Furtado and become their boy toy?
Why do I feel embarrassed to say I’m a closet Timbaland fan?
Why after saying that, do I feel compelled to say his solo album sucked for the most part.
