New Jersey – Street Line Video

19 Naughty Three: The 25th Anniversary

After the celebration of their 25th anniversary of their debut album two years ago, New Jersey’s very own DJ Kay Gee, Treach, and Vinnie aka Naughty By Nature’s second album “19 Naughty Three” has now reached the big 2-5. To give y’all a recap, I was invited to a Naughty By Nature/Cypress Hill show for free by Kay Gee himself two years ago during Halloween weekend and that night was definitely one of the greatest nights of my life. Hit after hit, classic after classic, Naughty tears the stage up and it certainly felt like 1991 all over again. Now fast forward to now, February 23rd, 2018. It’s now the 25th anniversary of their second album and it’s my favorite album from Naughty. At 2:18 this morning, I wanted to revisit the album and give it a listen and it’s still timeless hip hop. Every fast rhyme, every hard beat, every sample, this album is a definite banger and a must have for a hip hop fan. Besides the three singles “Hip Hop Hooray”, “Written On Ya Kitten” and “It’s On”, my favorites are “Ready For Dem” featuring the late great Heavy D. Rest In peace. “The Hood Comes First”, “Hot Potato”, “Sleepin’ On Jersey” featuring Queen Latifah and “Sleepwalkin’ II.” No skips on this album for me at all. Something rare for me with albums nowadays. That’s another story I won’t get into but back to the main topic. Naughty By Nature have definitely put in work and have solidified themselves as hip hop legends. They’re still doing show left and right, up and down and making sure they’re shows have the same exact energy as when you listen to their albums. They’re a true hip hop group that never changed who they were to sell records or to be accepted by mainstream standards. They continued to stay their true selves and keep it real. The same three guys from the streets of New Jersey. It’s as real as it gets. Nothing watered down. The best part about our hip hop legends doing shows is they’re doing better and looking better than most of the young guys my age. It’s like the young guys can’t keep up with the OG’s but claim to wanna be like them or they learn from them. Which part? But this is no diss. Just keeping it real. After all, that’s what hip hop is all about and Naughty have definitely done that.

All Hail The Queen: The Legacy of Queen Latifah

One of hip hop’s earliest female MC’s, the homegirl from Newark, New Jersey, the one who came onto the scene in 1988 when she was just a part of the Flavor Unit. She made a demo that ended up in the hands of Fab Five Freddy, who was a host on Yo! MTV Raps, and then was given to an employee at Tommy Boy Records. After that, she recorded her hit “Wrath of My Madness.” She then released her debut album in 1989 with both a voice and a style that’s iconic in hip hop history. She’s fearless, unapologetic, strong, a no nonsense type of person whose well respected and might give a mean jab or two if you don’t come correct. Mostly known for her female empowering songs and teaching how and what it means to be respected as a woman, especially in a male dominated field that she’s in, she’s definitely the Queen, Queen Latifah that is. She came onto the scene in 1989 when she signed to Tommy Boy Records and released her debut album, that year in November, titled “All Hail the Queen.” Of course, this is the album with her signature hit “Ladies First” with another dope female MC who goes by the name Monie Love. Besides how powerful and uplifting the song is, their rhymes had incredible flow and wordplay, it was something that made you have much more deeper love and appreciation for women, black women especially. Her next joint “Nature of a Sista” is the album with one of my favorite Latifah joints, which is “Latifah’s Had It Up 2 Here.” The opening line in the song is what always made me love Latifah as an MC. “Well, It the L-A, the T-I, the F-A-H, you see why…” It’s the first line that comes to my head when I think of her and her music. Her 1993 joint “Black Reign” is what made us 90’s babies appreciate Latifah the most because of the joint “U.N.I.T.Y.” It’s another dope record from the Queen about not disrespecting our women and uniting. “Just Another Day” is a smooth, laid back joint about chillin’, hangin’ around in the hood with your homies. Latifah’s switch up from her first two albums to this one wasn’t such a bad move either. She still kept it real, stayed herself but on this album, it was more dark and appealed more to the streets. Her first three albums to me stood the most. It marked her legacy as an MC. During the 90’s, that’s when she made her mark on the television screen. She was mostly known for her role as Khadijah on “Living Single” and as a roughneck lesbian named Cleo on “Set It Off.” Can’t forget to mention the talk show she had at the end of the 90’s, which most don’t know about. Throughout the 2000’s, Latifah has been in countless movies as a starring role and has been on Broadway and even doing traditional singing style with her music and another talk show that only lasted for three years. Latifah is definitely someone in hip hop who has influenced a lot of women and opened doors for them. Definitely a queen in her own right.