November 19, 2010 Leave a comment
Ras Kass verse is just aiight but Faith makes up for it:
Here’s the classic Nas joint:
And, in case you missed Faith singing over Biggie’s Everyday Struggle, check this out.
October 22, 2010 Leave a comment
The husky voice and flow are reminiscent of Jim Jones and Biggie but the storytelling technique using 2 voices to have a first person conversation with himself is a tried and true technique employed to great effect by The Notorious B.I.G. in The Warning. Here’s Price of Fame:
And, here’s Biggie’s classic, The Warning:
September 2, 2010 1 Comment
Here’s Biggie’s track, in case it’s been a while:
And, in case you’re interested, here’s the original track Biggie sampled, Either Way by Dave Grusin:
August 10, 2010 1 Comment
#3 Bad Boy Records
While East Coast Rap music was never quite completely dead, there is no question that from mid-1992 to mid-1994 commercial hip-hop was dominated by the West Coast, primarily by Death Row Records (more on that later…). It was not until Sean “Diddy” Combs was fired from Uptown Records and decided to launch his own record label in 1993 with his “Big Mack” one-two combo of singles from The Notorious B.I.G. (Juicy) and Craig Mack (Flava in Ya Ear), that the hip-hop nation once again began to view the East Coast as a Super Power. Diddy, Puffy at the time, signed a stable of artists with true lyrical skills and had them rap over tracks that were much more melodic than the gritty and spare tracks that had been coming out of New York at the time. He drew from proven hits, often heavily sampling 80’s R&B classics. In fact, some purists saw Puffy as nothing but a beat-jacker and accused him of bastardizing hip-hop. If you look at the origins of recorded rap, however, you see that his approach to hit making was very similar to the one that put hip-hop on the map in the first place. Like other successful record labels before (Motown, Stax, Ruthless, Death Row, etc.), Bad Boy was built around a superstar team of producers who could churn out hot track after hot track for the label’s artists. The production team, appropriately dubbed “The Hitmen” and led by Puffy himself, eventually became so dominant that their work drove the sales of more than 21 million albums over 18 months for the label, making Bad Boy one of the most commercially successful labels of all time (in any genre). Their sales success also was achieved without sacrificing their credibility in the streets. As every hip-hop fan knows, however, Bad Boy’s success was marred by a feud with Death Row Records and the murder of Biggie Smalls near the height of the label’s popularity. That story has been covered extensively. This is about the music, and Bad Boy had plenty of it:
Juicy – The Notorious B.I.G.
Flava in Ya Ear – Craig Mack
Big Poppa – The Notorious B.I.G.
One More Chance – The Notorious B.I.G.
You Used to Love Me – Faith Evans
Can’t You See – Total
Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems – The Notorious B.I.G.
Sky is the Limit – The Notorious B.I.G.
Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down – Puff Daddy & The Family
It’s All About the Benjamins – Puff Daddy & The Family
Feels So Good – Mase
Tell Me What You Want – Mase
Money, Power, Respect – The Lox
Bad Boy For Life – P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family
Down For Me – Loon
Previously: #20 Rakwus Records, #19 Loud Records, #18 Select Records, #17 Rap-A-Lot Records, #16 No Limit Records, #15 Sleeping Bag Records, #14 Uptown Records, #13 Ruffhouse Records, #12 Cold Chillin’ Records, #11 Jive Records, #10 Aftermath Records, #9 Cash Money Records, #8 Roc-A-Fella Records, #7 Ruthless Records, #6 Profile Records, #5 Tommy Boy Records, #4 Sugar Hill Records
July 28, 2010 10 Comments
…but not because they didn’t put out dope music.
#14 Uptown Records
Uptown Records did not make its mark with rap music, though it was founded by former rapper Andre Harrell who was one half of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and was home to some significant rappers. Uptown Records however was extremely important to hip-hop culture for a few reasons. First and foremost, Uptown almost single-handedly redefined what “hip-hop music” meant. Prior to Uptown, rap music and hip-hop (the culture) were used interchangeably. With artists like Jodeci, Mary J. Blige and Guy, Uptown invented (or at least brought to the masses) a genre called “hip-hop soul.” Fast forward 20 years later and rap and R&B are nearly indistinguishable with rappers rhyming on R&B songs and R&B singers singing on rap songs, with much of it being called “hip-hop music.” Another contribution that Uptown made to hip-hop was birthing the career of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs who started his life at a record label at Uptown as an intern (but more on him later). When you add that Uptown also released the first single by Biggie Smalls (when that was still his name) it’s hard to deny Uptown’s place in hip-hop record label history. Here’s the case:
Previously: #20 Rakwus Records, #19 Loud Records, #18 Select Records, #17 Rap-A-Lot Records, #16 No Limit Records, #15 Sleeping Bag Records
June 12, 2010 Leave a comment
Old school hip-hop playlist guaranteed to get you hyped. Tracklist below. Click here to play.
Notorious B.I.G. – Who Shot Ya?
Jay-Z – Rock Star
Lil Cease ft. Lil Kim and Puff Daddy – Play Around
Big Pun – Glamour Life
Mase ft. Puff Daddy – Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down
M.O.P. – Ante Up
Freeway ft. Jay-Z and Beanie Siegel – What We Do
LL Cool J – Jack the Ripper
Terror Squad – Lean Back
Nas – Made You Look
Snoop Dogg – Ups and Downs
Gang Starr – Full Clip
Snoop Dogg – From tha chuuch to da palace
Ludacris – Stand Up
Ice Cube – Check Yo Self (Remix)
Jay-Z – Show Me What You Got
Ambrosia For Heads 