It’s Yours

One of Def Jam records first big hits, produced by Rick Rubin. This right about the time when Hip-Hop became it’s own style, splintering off from rap. The record cover doesn’t have a picture of the artist but it does have a picture of the Technics-1200SL turntable tone arm. This picture became one of the defining images of Hip-Hop. As much as graffiti and break dancing, the turntable was Hip-Hop as opposed to rap.

Rump Shaker

Wreckx-n-effect. While the song may barely qualify as a “one hit wonder” the song has significance because it is the first time Pharrell Williams writes a rap song. Yes, Pharrell of the Neptures and N.E.R.D. wrote the rap in “Rump Shaker”. Also, the band was produced by Teddy Riley, who produced Janet Jackson and Boys to Men and so many other big time R&B acts of the 90’s. Oh yeah, one of the guys in Wreckx-n-effect is Teddy Riley’s brother. It helps to have a friend in the business and it helps to have Pharrell writing for you.

The song and the video are widely thought as being ignorant and misogynistic. Similar to “Pop the Coochie” by 2 Live Crew and “Pumps in a bump” by M.C. Hammer. These some seems tame compared to some of the music out right now. Anyone who has seen the video remembers the girl standing on the beach playing the saxaphone.

Hey DJ

The back cover of the World’s Famous Supreme Team. I’m trying to show you what the artists looked like, so to the back cover we go. This band was set up by Malcolm Maclaren, who also set up the Sex Pistols. Malcolm was was of the first punk rockers to really embrace Rap, not to mention one of the first major non-black hip-hop producers. After him we get the Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin the other two trailblazing punk rockers turned hip-hoppers.

My favorite part of the cover is the London daft punk rocker at the bottom middle saying “excuse me while I dance”. When they say “no, no that’s from our last record”, they mean Buffalo Gals, which features Malcolm Maclaren rapping.

Gone Till November

Wyclef Jean, going solo after breaking up with the Fugees (same band as Lauren Hill), This song really highlights his musical style and the drama of his writing. He’s the James Taylor of hip-hop.

Naughty Girl

Beyonce Knowles. Li’l Kim helping out with the rap. This song really separated her from Destiny’s Child. She was a hit solo performer and one of the best R&B singers to work with rappers since Mary J. Blige

OK, I’ll admit it. Damn she looks good! That bling is what you get when you hang with Jay-Z. I may not be an expert on the subject, but it does not appear that she is wearing anything under that dress/sheet. What about the rocks she’s sitting on? The remind me of the beach on the Riviera (the south of France), they don’t have sand beaches, the have rocks. And there she is, looking like that. What a fantasy! It’s a great record cover.

Yellowman Getting Married

Time to mix in some reggae. Yellowman being one the the biggest stars in the history of reggae. This style is called “rub-a-dub”. It was popular in the early 80’s, a precursor to Dancehall reggae. Rub-A-Dub was meant to be played in clubs it was meant for dancing and to find who was the best DJ. In Jamaica, the singer is called the DJ. What Americans call the DJ they call the selector (he selects records). Rub-A-Dub DJ competitions used the same record for each DJ. The selector would put on one record, the instrumental or “version” side and DJ after DJ would get up on stage and say his rhymes over the same music. You see the same thing later in Dancehall reggae and Rap/Hip-Hop battles. But it all started with the Rub-A-Dub. The biggest stars back then were Yellowman and Josey Wales. You may also remember Musical Youth who said “This generation rules the nation…with version”. In case you didn’t recognize the hook, “I’m getting married in the morning” is a Rex Harrison song from the movie version of “My fair lady”.

Yellowman was also a great Dancehall reggae star.

So What Cha Want

The Beastie Boys. In a daring and surprising move, they decided to leave the drum machines and the beat boxes at home and play all of their own instruments (drums and guitars). Some of you may not know this but the Beastie Boys started out as a Hardcore Punk Rock band. When I mean started out, I mean before “Cookie Puss”. “So What Cha Want” is the Beastie Boys trying to bring hardcore punk rock back into their lives. After Paul’s Boutique, the band became very disillusioned with the hip-hop rock star lifestyle. They wanted to get back to being musicians and artists. The video has a pretty unique feel. It may have actually been shot or edited by Mike-D. A few years later everyone was doing their songs unplugged. Schooly-D and of course, LL Cool J with “Mama Said Knock you Out” at the MTV Video Awards. But here is the Beastie Boys in one of the first. Note that “So What Cha Want” is not a question, it’s a statement. “Slow and low that is the tempo. Beastie Boys always in control”.

From “Check Your Head” their first album on the now defunct, “Grand Royal” record label.

Louder Than a Bomb

Tiga, from Canada, doing “Louder than a bomb”, yes, the Public Enemy song. The first time I heard Tiga he was doing a techno-remix of Nelly’s “Hot in Here”. The thing that caught my attention was that he really meant what he was saying. It was this white dude from England channeling Nelly. I was intrigued.

So I picked up Sexor, which is a collection of his latest 12-inch singles. One of the records is Public Enemy’s “Louder than a bomb” from “It takes a nation of millions to hold us back”. If nothing else, listen to when Tiga says “Professor Griff knows I ain’t milk-toast”. It’s not an easy song to sing. I’m not sure if I totally believe Tiga throughout the entire song, but he does have his moments.

Cool it Now

New Edition. Back in the days when they were teenagers, before they had status and before they had pagers. The back of the record has all kinds of information on the writer, the producer, the mixer. But nowhere does it give the names of the singers. No mention of Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, no recognition, Just a picture. And you wonder why Q-Tip says they says record company people are shady. My favorite line? “Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike”.

It’s a Shame

Monie Love, from 1990. Check out the pierced nose. She was well ahead of her time fashion-wise. She’s a female Brit-Rapper around the same time as Neneh Cherry. In fact I think they were in a video together hatin’ on Lenny Kravitz. Anyway, “It’s a Shame” has pretty much the sample as De La Soul’s “Say no go”, that is the sample of Hall and Oates’ “Say no go”. “It’s a shame” was produced by David Morales who later became famous for producing lots of house music.

You may also remember her from “Monie in the middle”. We may get to that record at some point.