Tag: hip hop

From The Fresh Prince to Hollywood Best: Happy Birthday Will Smith

Who would’ve thought that the same guy from West Philadelphia, born and raised, on the playground was where he spent most of his days at, with the funny and happy raps, on a television sitcom with the illest hip hop gear I have ever seen, side by side with a DJ who goes by the name of DJ Jazzy Jeff, would be one of Hollywood’s most respected actors and married to the beautiful and lovely Jada Pinkett. That man would be known as Will Smith aka The Fresh Prince. When it comes to hip hop fashion, Will have always been an inspiration to me. Besides LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Run-DMC, and Big Daddy Kane, Will was also someone I looked up to fashionably. He literally would wear something that nobody else would or do something else with his clothes that nobody else would do either and that to me was dope. I take fashion lessons from this man. Now the music, that was dope too. As the album titles says “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper”, Will and Jazz were the perfect hip hop duo. Songs like “Brand New Funk”, “You Saw My Blinker”, “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble”, “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, and the ultimate Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff classic “Summertime”, these guys are definitely one of the greatest hip hop duos of all time. Now the transition that Will went from the Fresh Prince to Hollywood actor Will Smith was a weird one to me. Throughout the last couple of seasons of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, Will’s style changed drastically. He went from hip hop gear in Doc Martens and Jordans, hat to the back, one sneaker white, one sneaker black, to plain shirt and jeans but still had the Jordans on. Towards the late 90’s all the way til now, Will Smith has been non stop coming out with movies back to back. My top favorites are “Hitch”, “Bad Boys II”, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, and more. I strongly disliked “Ali” though. I didn’t think he was the right person to play Muhammad Ali. It was more like Will Smith a boxer kinda movie, I didn’t get the Ali vibe from it. Wild Wild West was bad too. Just couldn’t get with it and I remember when that movie came out too. I can’t forget about how different his music became too but it was still good. DJ Jazzy Jeff was no longer beside him, and he had joints like “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Men In Black” with Coko from SWV singing on the hook and chorus. From Fresh Prince to Hollywood big time, Will Smith is definitely one of hip hop’s greatest artists and Hollywood’s greatest actors on the big screen. Definitely an inspiration to me.

The Low End Theory: The 25th Anniversary

2 months ago, “Beats, Rhymes & Life” turned 20, now here we are on September 24th, 2016, and another classic Tribe album has an anniversary. “The Low End Theory”, my favorite ATCQ album turns 25. Before I get into this album track by track, I spent some time on Phife’s Instagram account and it still hurts that he’s not here. It’s surreal, I think about this man everyday. I just wish he was here to see “Beats, Rhymes & Life” turning 20, 2 months ago and now “The Low End Theory”, turning 25. This album is known for it’s jazzy sounds that influenced a lot of other hip hop artists and albums. “Excursions”, the opening track on the album is a head nodder and Q-Tip rips this joint. The next joint “Buggin’ Out”, is the joint you hear at the end of the “Scenario” music video and this time Phife is who we hear first and then Tip comes in afterwards. It’s the classic yin and yang thing that the fellas do in their music. “Rap Promoter” has a beat that knocks a little bit more harder than the first two joints on the album and bit more bass too. The next joint “Butter” is one of my all time favorite Tribe joints. This song always plays in my head out of all the Tribe joints there are and it’s my favorite song to listen to when I’m on the train just cruising on my way downtown doing what I usually do, shopping or going to visit family in Queens. Haha, how ironic, Queens is the hometown of Tribe, except Ali Shaheed, he’s from Bed-Stuy. Just like hook goes the joint is strictly BUTTER. “Not no Parkay, not no margarine but strictly butter baby!” The next joint “Verses From the Abstract” is a smooth joint from the Abstract himself. It has a cypher kinda style where a couple of guys come together randomly on the sidewalks and just nod their heads to a dope beat like this joint and do their thing. “Show Business” is another favorite joint of mine on this album. It’s a catchy joint about having the guts and courage to deal with dealing with the rap industry, questioning those who are willing and dedicated to do this. “Vibes and Stuff” has the perfect title. It’s just vibes and stuff. Dope smooth beat and a head nod. “The Infamous Date Rape”, a song that touches on the subject of date rape. An important topic should be discussed more so that people understand what does it mean when someone says NO! The next joint “Check the Rhime”, the first single released from this album and of course a classic. I loved how the video had everyone from the neighborhood Kickin’ it with Tribe. By the way, the ATCQ mural on Linden Boulevard is the exact same place where the video for this joint took place 25 years ago. I’m just glad I was there. Word. “Everything Is Fair” is one of those Tribe joints where they obviously use a sample that takes over the entire the song. This joint coulda been an instrumental and it would still work. “Jazz (We’ve Got)”, awwww maannnn! This is my all time favorite Tribe joint. I am obsessed with this joint all the way yo! Everything was perfect about this joint. The beat, the jazzy horns sounds, Tip, Phife, the simple rhythmic hook “We’ve got the jazz, we’ve got the jazz.” My favorite part on this joint is the beginning of Phife’s part when he uses his Trinidadian accent and goes “Competition dem Phifer come sideway, but competition dey mus me come straightway.” I lose it at that part all the time. “Skypager” was cool. The beat is dope but that’s pretty much it. It was more like an interlude or a short skit to me. “What?”…… The perfect title for it. Didn’t like this joint and of course the album ends with “Scenario.” Another classic Tribe joint with the help from Leaders of the New School, Busta Rhymes original rap group. It was Busta, Charlie Brown, Cut Monitor Milo and Dinco D. The video was perfect for the song too. It was just as hype as the song. Another hip hop classic right here, from beginning to end. This album is always up for debate with “Midnight Marauders” amongst hip hop and Tribe fans about which is Tribe’s better album and whose is what favorite. Once again, much love and peace to my man Phife Dawg. Rest in peace King.

The Man Behind So So Def: Happy Birthday Jermaine Dupri

I consider him to be the Russell Simmons of the South. He’s the man behind some of the biggest hits of Usher, Mariah Carey, Monica, Xscape, TLC, Bow Wow, Jagged Edge and even Da Brat and Kris Kross, just to name a few. He goes by the name of Jermaine Dupri. If you’re a true hip hop fan, you should remember seeing 12 year old JD dancing background for the legendary hip hop group, Whodini, in their music video for “Freaks Come Out At Night.” Homeboy was rocking a serious jheri curl and leather jacket, with those big eyeballs of his directly in the camera as he popped and locked, straight 80’s style. LOL! But let’s fast forward a bit to the 1993. It was the year 1993 when JD launched the legendary record label, aka So So Def but it was in 1990 and 1992 when he first produced for a group named Silk Tymes Leather and Kris Kross. History books say that JD discovered Kris Kross at a local mall and then the rest in history. In 1993, he also discovered Xscape, signed them and their debut album “Hummin’ Comin’ At Cha” was released. Then on an appearance on Yo! MTV Raps, he met Da Brat through Kris Kross, signed her as well and “Funkdafied” was born. Throughout the 90’s, JD started working with other artists like Mariah Carey. He did “Always Be My Baby” and its remixed version featuring Da Brat, he also did “Not Tonight” for Lil’ Kim on her “Hardcore” album, and in 1997 he helped launched Usher’s career with the album “My Way.” A lot of people think that’s Usher’s first joint but he had an album in 1994 that was self titled and super underrated in my opinion. Also in 1997, he remixed “Everything” for Mary J. Blige with the classic “My Name Is D-Nice” beat and y’all know how Mary does it, simply raw and smooth over that joint. Rocking it like she was a rapper and even had this cat named Roc on the joint. In 1998, he met Bow Wow, who was known then as Lil’ Bow Wow. The greatest work done by JD to me is Usher’s 2004 album “Confessions”, which in my opinion is Usher’s best album, along with Mariah Carey’s 2005 comeback album “The Emancipation of Mimi.” There’s a long list of hits done by Jermaine Dupri that’s too much to think about. Hands down one of hip hop’s greatest producers of all time and definitely one from the South as well. He’s the reason why I like southern R&B better than southern rap. In his own words in almost everything he does, “Y’all Know What This Is! So… So…. DEF!”

Live At the BHMC: Bronx Rising!

True hip hop events that celebrate hip hop culture always makes me feel at home. These events make me feel like my world is complete and that I don’t need anything or anybody else. Hip hop events here in the Bronx makes me feel like there is hope for a better life with my own people, both my African and Hispanic people. There’s a sense of community, love, peace, prosperity, understanding, respect, we have fun together, we laugh, we shake hands, we hug, we meet each other and make new friends, we take pictures and that’s what the true spirit of hip hop is all about. After having a bad week, last night I attended this dope hip hop event on Louis Nine Boulevard with a couple of hip hop legends who poked their head in and hung out for a while and left but I was especially excited when Brand Nubian’s own Sadat X stepped foot in the place to be. The place was nicely redecorated of hip hop decor with pictures up and framed from the legendary “Tools of War” events, celebrating 14 years and of course dope graffiti artwork on the wall. People travel from far to be in the Bronx for these events so you know it’s real. Of course my boy RodStarz of Rebel Diaz was hosting, my boy DJ Illanoiz and the incredibly dope new DJ who blew me away, goes by the name of DJ Perly was blessing us with the dope music. Man, she was cutting and scratching and mixing and blending like it was nobody’s business. She spun some really dope classics including Run-D.M.C.’s “Peter Piper.” Before Sadat X hit the stage, I noticed Coke La Rock was there, hip hop’s very first MC, Debbie D from Beat Street, Popmaster Fabel, and DJ Jazzy Jay was there too. We were also blessed with incredible talent from Boca Floja and Flo Kennedy, she was my favorite and then Sadat X hits the stage. Not only does he performs some Brand Nubian classics but he shares his stories of what life was like growing up here in the Bronx. Stories of who taught him who he was and what it meant to be Black. It was truly inspiring, some more inspiration and reminder of being from the Bronx. The night ended with a cypher, meet and greets, and pictures were taken and in true nature, of course, me and a couple of my peeps hit up the chicken spot, up the street on the corner and shared a few laughs. Man, oh man, what a good ass night. Another dope hip hop memory for the books for me. Truly amazing.

The ILLMATIC One: Happy Birthday Nas

Yo, who would’ve guessed that back in 1991, the same guy who said that he was going to hell for snuffin’ Jesus, three years later would have created one of the most illest and most influential hip hop albums of all time? The same album that was awarded best album of the year in 1994 by The Source. That album happens to be “Illmatic.” That same guy was a then 21 year old Nasir Jones from Queensbridge. With 3rd Bass’ MC Serch as his manager and production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and DJ Premier on the album, Nas had the right person to manage him to get the right team to create the right album at the right time. There’s no rapper on the face of the planet that’s not influenced by Nas. Your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper is Nas. With a crazy collection of hits for days, Nas is definitely the quintessential New York MC. My personal all time favorite Nas joint is “The World Is Yours.” No words to describe how crazy that beat is and it’s a great motivational song that makes me feel like Muhammad Ali at the start and end of my day. A lot of hip hop fans says “Illmatic” is their favorite Nas album but I personally liked his sophomore 1996 album “It Was Written” a little more. That album had way better production and better songs to me, at least that’s how I felt when I first sat down and listened to it all the way through. “If I Ruled the World” featuring Lauryn Hill, is one of the first joints that pop into my head when I think about the year 1996 and “Street Dreams” is another all time favorite of mine, the remix featuring R. Kelly the most. This is the part of Nas’ career where things started to feel a little different compared to his first two albums and the music was a little boring. “I Am” had “Nas Is Like” and “Hate Me Now” featuring Diddy, that song was so annoying to me honestly, and the album after that was “Nastradamus.” That album is my least favorite Nas album but the single with the same album title and “You Owe Me” featuring Ginuwine are my joints though. “You Owe Me” wouldn’t be the same with Ginuwine to be honest. Sometimes having singers on your hooks can make the song because without them, it’s not the same. 2001’s “Stillmatic” to me was a strong comeback for Nas when he came back with “Ether” dissing Jay-Z. It’s the classic hip hop beef that both Nas and Jay-Z fans still talk about til this day. It’s almost annoying to randomly hear “Yo, Jay-Z or Nas?” SMH! Other joints like “Rule” featuring Amerie is another favorite of mine and “One Mic” were the perfect singles. “One Mic” to me is one of Nas’ most memorable joints. Who doesn’t know that joint? Even your grandma and grandpa knows that joint. “God’s Son” is my third favorite Nas album. So far my top 3 Nas albums are “It Was Written”, “Illmatic”, and “God’s Son”, in that exact order too. Just like “Stillmatic”, this album was another strong one for Nas. Every joint from beginning to end was banger except “Thugz Mansion”, I didn’t care for that one like that but my favorite on the album is “Last Real Nigga Alive.” “Street’s Disciple” I didn’t like as well but “Bridging the Gap” and “Just a Moment” are also my favorites. “Hip Hop Is Dead” is what stated the whole “hip hop is dead” conversations that still happen today in hip hop discussions. Album was okay to me, “Can’t Forget About You” featuring Chrisette Michele is a banger though. “Untitled” originally named “N***er”, was cool too. “Make the World Go Round” featuring The Game and Chris Brown was crazy though. Definitely a top 5 Nas joint to me. Breezy on the hook, you could never go wrong with that. The Game, my favorite West Coast is a beast on them bars, the beat was crazy, the whole joint was crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy dope. “Life Is Good” is my fourth favorite. It’s a very relaxed and mellow Nas but he was always that way. The album title speaks for itself and that’s the entire vibe of the album. Another great one from Nas and “Bye Baby” featuring Aaron Hall is my favorite on the album along with “Reach Out” featuring my boo Mary J. Blige. She rode that beat like no other and who better to sing on hip hop tracks than the Queen of hip hop soul? Nobody! She took it back to “You Remind Me”, her first joint on this one but y’all should know their first collab joint together for her 1997 album “Share My World” called “Love Is All We Need.” Classic right there. Nasir Jones aka Nasty Nas aka Nas Escobar, one of hip hop’s greatest MC’s, one of the most influential MC’s and definitely in my top 5 list. Yo, happy birthday to you sir! Salute the Queensbridge legend.

20 Years Later: The Legacy of 2Pac

It was on September 13th, 1996, when one of hip hop’s very own had passed on. 20 years later, this man’s legacy is still celebrated worldwide through his music, his movies and most importantly his powerful, emotional, strong and revolutionary words and actions. Tupac Amaru Shakur is one of hip hop’s most celebrated artists of all time. His music was not only the truth but he showed sides of himself that was very impactful on fans all over the world. Of course all that revolutionary talk and attitude was put into him by his mother, Afeni Shakur, a woman who was a political activist and a part of the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party is a revolutionary black nationalist and social organization that was founded in 1962 and lasted until 1982. Before he was Tupac, he was Lesane Parrish Crooks. The first time people heard Pac on a record was on Digital Underground’s 1991 joint called “Same Song”, from the original movie soundtrack “Nothing But Trouble.” That same year, Pac released his debut album called “2Pacalypse Now.” This album touched heavily on the subject of all the things that were happening here in America. Things like “black on black” crime, teenage pregnancy, racism, and police brutality and one song that talked about one of those subjects was “Brenda Had a Baby.” I never sat down and listened to this album all the way through but I already knew what topics Pac was touching on from reading about the album long time ago. The only Pac album I heard all the way through is “All Eyez On Me”, which was released 20 years ago in February. His next album “Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…” released in February 1993, spawned the single “I Get Around”, which is one of my all time favorite Pac joints. Of course, any song with a dope beat to me is automatically a good song and it was catchy too. The music video matched with a fun, party vibe with the half naked women by the pool and running backyard and just dancing and having a good time. Another joint from this album “Keep Your Head Up” is another one of my favorites, for the simple fact that Pac said a line in the song that questioned the lack of love for our black women. He rides the beat while making you think when he said “And since we all came from a woman, got our name from a woman and our game from a woman, I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it’s time to kill for our women, be real to our women.” That line alone is why this joint is one of my favorite Pac joints. To this day, that line is still to be asked because having a conversation with our friends and brothers and cousins, then tend to talk with so much hate and disrespect for black women and it personally pisses me off. People talk about how much they love the real and how real they are themselves but only keeping it REAL ignorant and REAL dumb and stupid. Pac’s next joint “Me Against the World” to me is my favorite album because all three of the singles released are all of my favorite Pac joints as well and if they’re all my favorites then I know for sure that the album is amazing. I need to have a Pac day and just vibe to his shit all day. “All Eyez On Me” has K-Ci and Jojo on the hook to “How Do U Want?”, and that dope ass remixed version to “California Love” featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman, that’s Mr. Computer Love right there. The song wouldn’t be the same without him on it. “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory” aka “Makaveli” had “Hail Mary and “R U Still Down? (Remember Me)” had “Do For Love” featuring Eric Williams from BLACKstreet, who was a new member at the time. Man, Pac had joints for days that I rocked with heavy but I still have to find some time to go through his entire discography. To me, Pac goes into the same box as KRS-One, Public Enemy, and the X-Clan. They were all on that political/Black Power tip that we need more of in today’s hip hop. Kendrick Lamar could also go into that box, as well as Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def and Talib Kweli aka Black Star, nothing like conscious rap to make you nod your head, think, cry, get angry as you rap along to those deep records and it made you feel proud to be Black too, made you feel unapologetic about being Black. Of course hip hop needs a balance but it’s a little too out of balance nowadays and Pac would be perfect in these days of the Black Lives Matter movement. Let’s put David Banner in that box too. 20 years later, it’s no secret how impactful Pac is to hip hop and on people all over the world. His honesty and empowering but sharp words made people both love him and hate him at the same time. He wasn’t the lyrical and flow kinda dude, he was emotional and powerful, unapologetic and honest. I almost forgot to mention his acting career when he appeared in “Gridlock’d”, “Above the Rim” and one of my all time favorites “Juice” alongside Omar Epps as “Bishop.” Bishop had that same attitude Pac had in his music except Bishop got outta hand with the power of the “juice.” There’s no telling what could happen if Pac was still here today. I would’ve loved for him to be here today. I definitely see him in Kendrick Lamar. Rest in peace Pac. We still riding with you and keeping you in our spirits after 20 years.

Now That’s Ludacris!: Happy Birthday Luda

I’m not that big of a fan of Southern rap like that but if you ask me to name my favorite Southern rap artists, I would say OutKast, T.I., Kris Kross, Nelly, Gucci Mane and my all time favorite Ludacris. Besides OutKast, Ludacris is one of those Southern rap artists to me who has good music and has a delivery that’s different than most rap artists of the South. A lot of Southern rap artists to me mostly say things that I don’t understand and their sound is something I’m not always into or can’t get into like that. I’m not dissing the South but that’s just me personally, it’s a totally different ball game for me but Ludacris is definitely the truth. Hits like “What’s Your Fantasy?”, “Saturday (Ooh Ooh!)”, “Sex Room”, “Move Bitch”, “Runaway Love”, “Area Codes”, the list goes on and on. Not only can he flow so effortlessly on the mic but I like his style, he’s funny and has songs that I can sit and listen to all day and Luda definitely got the hits for days. Every time I think about Luda, I think about those days of me as a kid growing up in the early 2000’s watching BET and seeing Ludacris music videos all the time. His videos were like Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott, those animated, funny, weird looking characters and hanging upside down from walls and shit, it was dope. Nobody else from the South keeps my interest like the way both OutKast and Ludacris do. A signature Ludacris joint always has that random but expected “DTP!” or “Disturbing Tha Peace!” yell out in the beginning of the song. Ludacris hands down, is the only Southern rap artist whose collection I can sit down and listen to from top to bottom, beginning to end. His songs had great stories, funny stories, he even had songs that were touching and honest. He had club bangers, street anthems and songs about life that touched on serious topics, Luda is the guy who can do all different kinds of joints. If I could pick my favorite Luda album, it would be “Chicken-n-Beer” because going through his album, that one has all of his best songs to me. The rest have 1 or 2 songs out of the singles released that I felt were more dope compared to the rest of the songs but on this album, all of the joints released were equally dope and that album is my favorite album cover too. That’s what catches my attention about Luda, he’s animated like I mentioned before about the music videos. I can’t forget to mention his acting stuff too. The only movie he did I cared for and liked the most was his role as Skinny Black on “Hustle & Flow” with Terrance Howard and Taraji P. Henson. Really dope movie and I haven’t seen it in a long time too. Southern rap without this man would be ludicrous but Southern rap with a guy that brings lots of good and funny energy in his songs with a “DTP!” chant and a fast but dope delivery, now that’s LUDACRIS!

Long Live the Kane: Happy Birthday Big Daddy Kane

One of my all time favorite rappers, especially from the 80’s. This man taught me how to be smooth, he taught me how to be fly, he taught me how to be stylish, he taught me how to not be a half stepper, he taught me that my flat top rules but for ’16, if you know what I mean. His name is Big Daddy Kane. Big Daddy Kane always have been an inspiration to me. I literally study this man and learn from him. He was loved by the ladies and respected by the fellas. He had Mister Cee as his DJ and both Scoob and Scrap Lover, who were his backup dancers. My sister has a friend whose father is Scrap Lover. That would be so fuckin’ dope to actually meet the man, the man who actually danced on stage behind Big Daddy Kane. My all time favorite Kane joints are “Warm It Up Kane”, “Ain’t No Half Steppin'”, “Rap Summary (Lean On Me)”, “Children R the Future”, and a few more. I always have a picture of Big Daddy Kane saved in my phone because I get so much inspiration from his style. I be like “Yooooo! This is what I’m trying to go for.” It’s not the regular look in 2016 but it’s in my book of dope shit. Word! I can’t forget the time that I actually seen Kane live in Central Park last year at the Summerstage Concert Series with a homie of mine I met through Instagram. We didn’t exactly planned on meeting each other that day but when we found out that we were both gonna be there we had to exchange numbers. It was so hot that day. Yo, I was almost ready to head back Uptown to the Bronx before Kane stepped out on the stage. It was hot, I was super dehydrated and thirsty, hungry, legs weak and tired, feet damn near numb, it was real yo. The things I go through for hip hop. LOL! Kane finally came out and he tore it up. I was especially waiting for him to bust a move and start dancing but he didn’t but I was still satisfied. Kane was still rocking and moving like it was the 80’s. He didn’t look lazy on the stage, he sounded great, full of energy, his style is not the same but his energy on the mic is still the same too and I have a few videos saved on my phone. Definitely a hip hop moment for me that I will never forget. I only own his first two albums. I hear the same things about Kane from everybody but of course I like to check things out for myself and I gotta hear the rest of his stuff. I’m pretty sure it’s not that bad. People do exaggerate but that’s what hip hop fans do. LOL! To the B-I-G D-A-Double D-Y K-A-N-E, thanks for the inspiration sir and oh yeah, he STILL ain’t half steppin’.

De La Soul is NOT Dead

Pos, Dave and Maseo, aka De La Soul, has returned. With an all new documentary called “De La Soul is Not Dead”, which is the perfect title for their comeback, and a brand new album called “and the Anonymous Nobody…” The documentary about the group was posted 2 days ago on Mass Appeal’s official YouTube channel and the documentary chronicles the group’s career, impact and contribution to hip hop. Pos, Dave and Maseo all come from Amityville, in Long Island. They all met in high school and became a group along with Stetsasonic’s original member Prince Paul. Without giving too much information that the documentary has already covered, De La Soul is hands down one of the most original groups in hip hop history. Their 1988 debut album “3 Feet High and Rising” is one of my all time favorite hip hop albums. Classic songs like “Buddy”, “Me, Myself and I”, “A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays”, “Plug Tunin”, watching the documentary reminds you of all those joints, bringing a smile to your face and rapping along to the songs. Now the new album, I had the chance to hear a snippet of each song and the album has 17 songs. One of the songs that stood out to me the most is a joint called “Pain” featuring Snoop Dogg. It was the only song to me that stood out the most but it’s still too early to give a response about the album when I haven’t sat down and heard it all the way through. Still have to wait until I get my chance. De La Soul along with Prince Paul was an inspirational thing to see because De La Soul were different. It gave me a more stronger sense of inspiration to be myself, even when people don’t understand it but that’s usually how it goes. I was just saying to myself just yesterday and always that I never liked to follow trends and do what’s currently popular and to me that’s what De La Soul represented. They represented individuality, originality, peacefulness, creativity, and being courageous. I suggest all hip hop heads to go and support the new album and watch that documentary. Good shit right there. Just wanna end it by saying that their new album also sold more copies than some of the usual popular so called rap artists we hear today and that to me is very important. Is this a sign for true hip hop to make a comeback to the mainstream? What’s gonna happen next? Hip hop will just have to wait and see.

Eazy Duz It: Happy Birthday Eazy-E

When it comes to West Coast hip hop, there’s Snoop Dogg, The Game, DJ Quik, Yo Yo, and of course Niggaz With Attitude aka NWA but without NWA, we wouldn’t know about Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and the late Eazy-E. Eric Wright aka Eazy-E was an original member of the hip hop group coming all the way from Compton. A group whose notorious for putting gangsta rap and Compton on the map and they’re also known for the famous line “Straight Outta Compton”, which is the same name of their debut album in 1988. The album only released three singles including the album title, “Gangsta, Gangsta” and “Express Yourself”, which is one of my favorites. Eazy-E also released his solo debut the same year called “Eazy-Duz-It.” All three singles released from his debut album all had “Eazy” in it. “Eazy-Duz-It”, “Eazy-er Said Than Dunn” and “We Want Eazy”, now I never sat down and listened to his album from beginning to end but Eazy’s rhymes were very simple. He wasn’t super lyrical and he lacked flow but he was original and he had that West Coast “laid back witta joint in the whip” attitude over Dr. Dre’s funky but spooky and hard kinda production that innovated that gangsta rap sound. It’s the same sound as “The Chronic” and Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut “Doggystyle.” My personal favorite Eazy-E joint is “Eazy-er Said Than Dunn” because of the beat and to me personally, that’s his hardest joint. I run that one more than the others that I know. Back in the 90’s HIV/AIDS was a serious epidemic that had America worried and sadly Eazy was a victim of the disease. On March 26th, 1995, Eazy-E lost his battle with AIDS. It was one of hip hop’s most shocking news and to this day, HIV/AIDS is something that’s still relevant. Sex is a whole other subject and it’s something that’s a part of the human life but it is something that shouldn’t be taken so lightly. It’s the sensation and feeling that can distract people from using a condom to help protect them from pregnancies and having babies or even worse, catching a deadly disease. People can say they’ll protect themselves and end up not doing it just because but it’s “Eazy-er Said Than Dunn.” Also, contracting HIV/AIDS can also be from sharing needles as well, let’s not forget. For those that’s reading this, please stay safe and be safe. It’s the best way to be. Happy birthday and rest in peace Eazy-E. Peace and love.