The man behind some of the verses of one of the first hip-hop songs, "Rapper's Delight," will appear on a internet radio show based here in Richmond this week. Grandmaster Caz is known for giving a book of rhyme pages to Big Bank Hank, one of the three members of the Sugar Hill Gang, who used Caz's lyrics and the rest is history.
Caz will be appearing on Go Live radio on Saturday on ustream. Listen here.
It's the end of the year and there's new Skillz material. But it's not the annual list of celebirty slip-ups set to music that he's known for. Instead, it's a full fledged album, "The World Needs More Skillz"
The footage above is from the record release party in Norfolk, Va.
5. "What a Mess" Xzibit Man vs. Machine Xzibit has great songs. They're just spread out over all of his albums, hiding behind songs that aren't very good, unlike this one from "Man Vs. Machine." The X-man's collaboration with DJ Premier is a state of the union for hip-hop in 2002 and reminds us all that rap music has been a mess for a long, long time. X's justifiable anger and frustration are amplified by Primo's production, chock full of shredded samples and funky breaks.
4. "I Inherited The World" Mad Skillz From Where??? This song (from "From Where.") isn't some "I Am Legend," last man in the world-type stuff, as the lyrics would lead you to believe. I hear a young artist, a long way from home and wondering what's next as he began his new life alone. The Sean J. Period-produced track fuels this song about trappings of success, which keeps some people chasing their dreams and others running in the other direction.
3. "Shabba Doo Conspiracy" Chino XL Here to Save You All Chino XL's "Here to Save You All," is an album littered with pop culture references that aren't as cool or clear as they were in 1996. But this gem of a track with Kool Keith has aged gracefully. Overflowing with vulgar punchlines and wicked wordplay, Chino and Keith curse the artistic corruption of gangsta rap using the career of dancer/actor Adolfo Quiñones as a metaphor. Unlike some of the rappers who have songs on this list, Chino and Keith still haven't gone pop.
2. "Standin' on the Korner" Young Black Teenagers Young Black Teenagers Yeah, there was a lot wrong with the Young Black Teenagers concept. They weren't teenagers, they weren't black. But they could rap. The YBT used old school vocal techniques on this track and surrounded them with Bomb Squad production, elements I'm equally partial to. If Cold Crush had been steady making music into the 90's, it might've sounded something like this.
I'm still lookin' for a clip of this one.
1. "Gutfest '89" Digital Underground Sex Packets Shock G voices three characters on this song (none of whom wear a prosthetic nose) and convincingly carries on a conversation with himself over manufactured mayhem. The song might be based on a fictional event, but the music is as real as good hip-hop it gets. Tommy Boy had the nerve to leave this off the initial CD release of "Sex Packets."
6. "What's the Difference" Dr. Dre The Chronic 2001 Critics of Dr. Dre say his sound is dependent on the contributions of others, like this Mel-Man-assisted track from his 1999 comeback album. But whatever Mr. Young does in the studio, whether its sequencing, tweaking, filtering or straight jacking, it works. Mid-way through his sequel to his best-selling debut, Dre dishes on his personal relationships with The D.O.C., Easy E and presumbably, Ice Cube over a thick bassline and fractured horn hit. After a misstep with The Aftermath compilation, this song helped make the difference for The Doctor. We're almost done counting down the songs that make good albums great and terrible albums almost listenable.
7. "She Watch Channel Zero" Public Enemy It takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Back in the days when albums had sides, it was important to sequence songs carefully to prepare the listener for what's next. After the sonic onslaught of this song from "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back," you were prepped for the second set of Public Enemy's greatest work. This little number is an indictment television's influence on society atop a Slayer sample and a James Brown beat.
8. "Children's Story" Black Star Black Star Heeere we go. One of the many shining moments on the sole Black Star album, Mos Def flips Ricky Walter's script about a kid gone wrong to fit his tale of a rapper gone pop. A rare rap remake that builds on the legacy of the original.
9. "Oodles of O's" De La Soul De La Soul is Dead De La Soul resurrected themselves with this song's hypnotic bassline, quirky samples and Trugoy's uncoventional flow. "Oodles," introduced "De La Soul is Dead," a record that redefined the Long Island trio's career, signaling the end of the daisy age and the death of innocence.
My run down of the best hip hop album cuts of all time continues.
10. "Black Woman" Jungle BrothersDone by the Forces of Nature In 1989, the Jungle Brothers released this valentine to African American woman. It's hard to hear this record without thinking about your moms, your wife, your girlfriend or the cafeteria lady from high school. The JB's were unashamed to offer women praise and adoration while their peers degraded them with and name-calling and cheap insults.
11. "MC Lyte Likes Swingin" Mc LyteLyte as a Rock Even before he produced a group called De La Soul, it was clear Prince Paul wasn't a typical rap producer. This track begins with a sample that sounds like an interlude from a 70s game show and quickly morphs in to a hip hop delight, with upstart spitter Lana Moorer going for broke over a delicious break beat. Swing on this: Like 'Good Vibrations', I'm like Sunkist/The rap is smooth, 'cause it's sealed with chapstick/Not gonna say that I been rappin' since the day of birth/But I've acquired the knowledge like Ms. Butterworth.
12."Sons of 3rd Bass" 3rd BassThe Cactus Album If you mistook Pete Nice, MC Serch and Richie Rich for Def Jam's replacements for the Beastie Boys, this song showed you how wrong you were. The three decimated the party boys turned art rappers with poetic put-downs and and verbal affrontery. The song let it be known that the trio would have much more than to offer on "The Cactus Album" besides their exciting first single.
13. "Just About Over" Goodie MobStill Standing After hearing this, it was clear that not only was Cee-Lo the best rapper in the Goodie Mob, he was something else entirely. Appearing on a single verse and the hook of this rocking guitar-driven track, he narrates an stirring meditation on fear and loneliness. All the other guys had to do was show up. Just about over? More like just getting started.
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