In which I have hope for mainstream Hip Hop

I had decided to do this post before I heard this track but when I heard it yesterday it really summed up my thinking:

Kero One - Check The Blueprints

To sum his song up he's urging the Hip Hop community, particularly the artists, to look at how Hip Hop should be. He sees importance in analysing what made Hip Hop great in the 80's and 90's, taking those findings and applying it to making new music. Obviously this could lead to music sounding the same and being stuck in the past but what I hope to prove in ten tracks is that this might not be the case but that it actually might be the way forward. Many of these tracks are examples of how cats from back in the day have had to step up to the plate again to show the world how it should be done. I hope artists take note.

Guilty Simpson - Man's World (Produced by J Dilla)

J Dilla was a producer who really took inspiration from the culture of sampling in the 90's.

Q-Tip - Work It Out.mp3

Everyones favourite Tribin' ear cleaner is back and I'd be happy hearing this on the radio.

WC - Voodoo ft. The Game

That West Coast sound still does it for me.

Termanology - So Amazing (Produced by DJ Premier)

Sounding like Premo always does is not actually a bad thing and Termanology entertains.

DJ Jazzy Jeff - The Garden ft. Big Daddy Kane

Two Old School cats bring the freshness.

Mr. J. Medeiros - Silent Earth

This sounds 90's-ish due to it's feel good vibes and sampling.

Marco Polo - Nostalgia ft. Masta Ace

(Old guy + New guy) x 90's influences = good Hip Hop

KRS-One & Marley Marl - Hip Hop Lives

Old guy + Old guy - rivalry = good Hip Hop

Chamillionaire - Hip-Hop Police ft. Slick Rick

When I played this to my brother, he asked "Is this Chamillionaire?", I said "Yes, how can you tell?", he replied "Becasue it sounds like 50 Cent but without the mumbling" - or something like that. Slick Rick is funny. This is probably the most out of place choice here but I do like it.

One more to finish off with:

Jeru the Damaja - One Day

This is a nice short imaginary story personifying Hip Hop and telling of the day when it was kidnapped by the likes of Puff Daddy (or whatever ridiculous moniker he' going under today). Don't worry though, they get Hip Hop back safe and sound.

Download all the tracks here in a zippedy doo dah file.

HHC Top 100 rap singles 30-21

#27&28 - A Tribe Called Quest

I’m back, hope you’re hungry. This is probably one of the best run of 10 songs in this countdown so far. I suppose it is expected as now we are nearing the top of the charts. 30 songs to go and I bet most heads could predict which tracks are contained in the higher end of the rundown. The thing I want to know is; what do you think the top 3 will be? Leave me a comment with your predictions.

30. Run DMC – Sucker MC’s (zshare) – 1983 – Run DMC (buy album here)
Personally I welcome the presence of instrumentation and melody in Hip Hop but I would never discredit the minimalist production styles of the 80’s. For younger Hip Hop fans Run DMC aren’t always easy to listen to, let’s face it in this day in age they are dated. Your lil’ sis could do these beats on a casio keyboard, anyone and their dads turntable can do baby scratches and the lyrics are not complex. Having said that, this song has something, that important je ne sais quoi and it is a classic.

29. Onyx – Slam (zshare) – 1993 – Bacdafucup (buy album here)
Woah, 10 years later and my, haven’t things changed? This song displays an entirely different vocal style to that of Run DMC; it’s altogether rugged and raw and downright hard to decipher. The beat is sample-tastic and very 90’s in a ‘mean muggin’ in the club’ kind of way.

28. A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation (zshare) – 1993 – Midnight Marauders (buy album here)
Hang on, 1993 also? Yes, and as far removed from Onyx as could be possible. It is sample driven but an entirely different vibe lounges around this track with it’s feet up. The tribe come totally horizontal here with some rhymes about getting girls. This is why all those other bloggers have ATCQ so high in their top albums lists.

27. A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario (zshare) – 1991 – The Low End Theory (buy album here)
Even the Tribe could produce something on its way towards the banging end of the 90’s Hip Hop spectrum. 2 minutes and 40 seconds in and, who’s that? Busta Rhymes! And he’s bringing it raw - pure rawness, rawity, rawkussnes and rawful. Bussa Buss entirely switches the Tribe vibe up and kills this track. This is why it’s hot.

26. De La Soul – Me, Myself and I (zshare) – 1989 – 3 Feet High and Rising (buy album here)
The more I immerse myself in this top 100, the more I realise that De La were visionaries. 3 Feet…really paved the way out of the 80’s for Hip Hop. If I weren’t only 3 when this came out I’m sure I would have appreciated its freshness and its change of direction even more than I do now.

25. Souls of Mischief - 93 til Infinity (zshare) – Ummm, 1993! – 93 til Infinity (buy album here)
Say wha’? It’s 1993 again, what a year and again another vibe. SoM bring us some sort of a sweltering, in the park tinged track. Basically, if you have a skateboard (you know one of those fat 80’s ones?) get it outta the cupboard and go and rip up a drained pool whilst playing this on your big shiny ghetto blaster or your prototype walkman.

24. Big Daddy Kane – Raw (zshare) – 1988
Sorry about the quality of this and that it has Kool G Rap on it. Ah no, that’s nothing to apologise for. If you were on the receiving of these rhymes, man, you’d be crushed.

23. Eric B & Rakim – I know you got Soul (zshare) – 1987 – Paid in Full (buy album here)
Rakim is the epitome of cool, which US rapper wouldn’t cite him as an influence or idol? The answer: One who models himself entirely upon Rakim. Respect Rakim.

22. Xzibit – Paparazzi (zshare) – 1996 – At the Speed of Life (buy album here)
To quote HHC (circa March 2002) ‘[Xzibit] will never be a part of the paid up superstar fraternity’ – Ha! How times have changed, how wrong they were. I believe I recently read that Xzibit was one of the many sellouts in the game and to me that equals ‘paid up’! I like Xzibit, I like his tunes and this is one of the best; the beat is so melancholy whilst X to the Z is agitated, furious and hungry.

21. Mos Def – Ms. Fat Booty (zshare) – 1999 – Black on Both Sides (buy album here)
If I were to compose one of those question tree things (like they put in tweenage girls magazines) to discern what type of Hip Hop fan the reader was I would definitely have a question that read: Are all 90’s Rawkus releases the definition of real Hip Hop. If the person answered ‘Yes’ they would get this answer in a pink box: ‘True Head: You love Hip Hop more than life itself. You are satisfied only by the best. Don’t listen to the backpack taunts, you know you’re better than the name caller. If the person answered ‘No’ then they would get this in a brown box: ‘Pop Tart: Go and listen to your thousands of bland mixtapes of dross from Dipset, 50 and that weird guy who raps about aliens and abortions. You obviously are happy having your head in the sand.’

Here endeth this post. Your favourite rap single not in here yet? Maybe it’s in the top 20, maybe it’s not – wait and see!

HHC Top 100 rap singles 40-31

#37 & 31 - NWA

*Please, please, please use the zshare links or else I won't be able to post properly once my bandwidth is used up on fileden.*

The tunes are getting bigger now yet there are probably still a few that you don’t have. I’ve been wondering what purpose this top 100 has been serving for people. Has it been a trip down memory lane? Has it been an opportunity for you to fill in gaps in your collection? Has it been an educational experience? Drop me a comment so I can understand more about my visitors. Today’s selection is particularly good:

40. Big Daddy Kane – Ain’t no Half Steppin’ (zshare) – 1988 – Long Live the Kane (buy album here)
In 88 this must have sounded a couple of years ahead of the game. A very laid back track with numerous samples, the strangest one being the serial killer with a knife sound effect.

39. Gang Starr – Mass Appeal (zshare) – 1994 – Full Clip (buy album here)
DJ Premier is one of those producers who will never be accused of whackness. He’s consistent on the whole and even when he makes a weak track the strength of his back catalogue holds him up. Him and Guru were a perfect pair, this track embodies the character of their music.

38. Eminem – Stan (zshare) – 2000 – The Marshall Mathers LP (buy album here or borrow it from your sister)
This is the track that sadly, you are most likely to have heard. Yes it is great, flipping Dido and kick starting her career was a great move and served its purpose well. I grudgingly accept that in fact, this does deserve to be here.

37. NWA – Express yourself (zshare) – 1989 – Straight Outta Compton (buy album here)
Ahhh, the first NWA track I heard and nothing but positive vibes from the boys. The critics of the time obviously overlooked this when they labelled NWA as troublesome, angry, vile and unsuitable.

36. Public Enemy - Public Enemy #1 (zshare) – 1987 – Yo! Bum rush the Show (buy album here)
A brilliant intro here, mimicked by Karl Hinds on ‘You don’ Know’ and the forerunner of tracks like ‘Super Sharp Darts’. Chuck’s distant vocals hit hard as usual.

35. Ultramagnetic MC’s – Watch Me Now (zshare) – 1988 – Critical Beatdown (buy album here)
‘Watch me now’ seems to sum up everything that Hip Hop had become in the late eighties. Funk samples and breaks, fast tempos and boastful rhymes.

34. Ice Cube – It was a good day (zshare) – 1993 – The Predator (buy album here)
This is another tune for a sunny day, perfectly mellow and uplifting, suited for a BBQ in the yard.

33. Public Enemy – Welcome to the Terrordome (zshare) – 1990 – Fear of a Black Planet (buy album here)
Wooooooo! This is music to go wild to! Contains the immortal line ‘Hear the drummer get wicked’.

32. De La Soul – Plug Tunin’ (zshare) – 1988 – Three Feet High and Rising (buy album here)
Why wasn’t this on the greatest hits? Weird.

31. NWA – F*** the Police (zshare) – 1989 – Straight Outta Compton (buy album here)
Ooof. Now that’s why those critics, politicians and anyone with white skin were scared of NWA, now that’s attitude.

Right, I'm off camping now so pray the sun shines for me.

HHC Top 100 rap singles 100-91

#95 - Dilated Peoples - The Platform

O.K. – We’ll kick off the Top 100 Rap singles in reverse order. There are, as it stands, 2 songs missing and I do apologise for this. Hopefully I’ll get them as we go along.

100. Big Daddy Kane - Wrath of Kane.mp3 – 1988 – from ‘It’s a Big Daddy Thing’(buy here)

99. Public Enemy - Dont Believe the Hype.mp3 – 1988 – from ‘It takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back’ (buy here)

My first taste of PE courtesy of ‘Best Hip Hop Anthems…Ever’. (Does anyone have this that they don’t want? It was my little brothers and I think one of my mates nicked it and now we can’t find a copy, it must be the best Hip Hop compilation…ever.)

98. Mos Def - Universal Magnetic.mp3 – 1997 – from ‘Soundbombing' (buy here)

Grrr. Really wish I hadn’t sold this 12”. I never appreciated it before but now I love it. A B-Boy throwback type classic.

97. De La Soul - The Magic Number.mp3 – 1989 – from ‘Three Feet High and Rising’ (buy here)

Has rap ever been more widely accepted than this track? Flippin’ ‘eck, even Julian Clary uses it on his weird BBC 7 radio show where he phones people up and helps them with problems such as their wives liking the Chippendales too much.

96. Just-Ice - Cold Gettin' Dumb.mp3 – 1987

95. Dilated Peoples - The Platform.mp3 – 2000 – from ‘The Platform’ (buy here)

I’m somewhat sceptical about the inclusion of this. I love Dilated, I have all their albums apart from that whack one that had Kanye Cheesemeister on it, but I think this got in here because of its success at the time. A personal favourite track and album though.

94. Public Enemy - Bring the Noise.mp3 – 1988 – from ‘It takes a Massive LP Title to Annoy Rap Writers’ (buy here)

Only to be played loud. Chuck D rages and Flav adds those usual mental ad libs.

93. Lords of the Underground - Cheif Rocka.mp3 – 1994 – from ‘Here Comes the Lords’ (buy here)

Head nodding Hip Hop with a dusty bass and echoey snare/clap that should get you dancing as well as excercising your neck. Good lyric: “…no it’s the shoes // The shoes? // It’s gotta be the shoes”.

92. Naughty By Nature - Hip Hop Hooray.mp3 – 1993 – from ‘Ninety Naughty Three’ (buy here)

Hip Hops anthem. Straight up, more nod inducing fare with THE most sing-a-long-able chorus ever, no exaggeration. NbN walk the fine line between mainstream and hardcore with precision.

91. Wu-Tang Clan - Triumph.mp3 – 1997 – from ‘Wu-Tang Forever’ (buy here)

One of the RZA’s tighter productions, a delicious mono bass tone resonates whilst strings punctuate the tension. The Clan take it in turn to drop lyrically supreme rhymes that serve to highlight how many weak wordsmiths there are around in this mixtape obsessed culture where anyone and their rims can be rap stars.