Da Dirty 30

“You couldn’t pay me a milli to be born in the 80s. You guys can have Keyshia and Wayne. I have Mary and Biggie.” – dream hampton, October 2009

Mama told me one day it was gonna happen, but she never told me when. She said that it would happen when I was much older, I wish it woulda happened then. As of today, I am officially 30, and therefore officially an oldhead. Ah, well. *Kanye shrug*

I’ve been an oldhead for years anyway. Matter fact, I was lovin’ old music back when the old music I talk about on here was new. When I was 5 and Stevie Wonder was makin’ that “Part Time Lover” type shit, I was listening to his ’60s/’70s hits on my lil’ record player. Even as a teenager bumpin’ Mobb Deep and Jay-Z, I was still buyin’ Kane and EPMD tapes from the late-’80s.

Old movies and TV shows? Ditto! I still watch old Martin and Married With Children episodes like I haven’t seen ‘em a GANG of times already. I just bought Krush Groove on DVD, and I remember when it was a new release at the video store. I SAW Gremlins IN THE MOVIES for fukk’s sake. *cringes*

I say all that to say this: it’s all good. You’ll get no “30’s the new 20″ talk outta me- I willingly embrace my oldassness. Would I trade this shit to be 15, wearin’ tight jeans and doin’ the “You’re A Jerk” dance or whatever they call it? Hell nah. Would I rather be 10 years younger and likely have an infinite Gucci Mane playlist on my iPod? FUKK no! #NoShots at the young people at all, I’m just sayin’… not for me. See, I may be old enough to fondly recall stuff that the youngins don’t give a damn about, but I’m glad to have been there. I take pride in all my ancient shit- from that red and blue Helly Hansen jacket that’s still hangin’ up in my closet, to the purple tape I still own.

Annnd so, to all my fellow oldheads (30 and up), oldheads in training (25-29), and future oldheads (teens-early 20’s) who’ve been checkin’ out DanjLovesThe90s: today, I celebrate my life AND old shit. I give you... Da Dirty 30. No definitive list or anything of the sort, just 30 random ’90s joints I fux with, and now you can too (if you don’t already). Click away…

Jane Child “I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love (New Jack Remix)” (1990)

Brand Nubian “Step To The Rear” (1990)

Samuelle “So You Like What You See” (1990)

Chubb Rock “Just The Two Of Us” (1991)

Pebbles “Always” (1991)

DJ Quik “Tonite” (1991)

MC Ren “Final Frontier” (1992)

Portrait “Here We Go Again” (1992)

Double XX Posse “Not Gonna Be Able To Do It” (1992)

Intro “Let Me Be The One” (1993)

Dr. Dre feat. The Lady of Rage & Tha Dogg Pound “Puffin’ On Blunts & Drinkin’ Tanqueray” (1993)

Shanice “It’s For You” (1993)

Black Moon “Buck ‘Em Down (Remix)” (1994)

Dru Down “Pimp Of The Year” (1994)

Nas feat. AZ “Life’s A Bitch (Remix)” (1994)

Mary J. Blige “Everyday It Rains” (1995)

Da Youngsta’s “I’ll Make U Famous” (1995)

Onyx “Last Dayz” (1995)

New Edition feat. Missy Elliott “You Don’t Have To Worry (Bad Boy Remix)” (1996)

Monifah “You” (1996)

Mo Thugs feat. Krayzie & Layzie Bone “Thug Devotion” (1996)

Brand New Heavies feat. Q-Tip “Sometimes (Remix)” (1997)

Rome “I Belong To You” (1997)

OutKast feat. Babyface “Jazzy Belle (Remix)” (1997)

Chico DeBarge & Joe “No Guarantee (Remix)” (1998)

Scarface feat. Devin The Dude, Too $hort, & Tela “Fuck Faces” (1998)

Ol’ Skool feat. XScape & Keith Sweat “Am I Dreaming” (1998)

LL Cool J “Ill Bomb” (1999)

Montell Jordan “Get It On Tonite” (1999)

Pharoahe Monch feat. Redman, Method Man, Lady Luck, & Shabaam Sahdeeq, & Busta Rhymes “Simon Says” (Remix) (1999)

-D! (Be back on Monday… Enjoy…)

“Talkin’ ‘Bout Snoop, Talkin’ ‘Bout Some Snoop…”

As mentioned two weeks ago when I covered 36 Chambers, there was a slew of albums that I looked forward to in the fall of 1993. The one I (and my brother) awaited most of all was the debut of arguably the most popular artist of that year, Snoop Doggy Dogg. Even with a total of no albums to his name, everyone knew who he was on the strength of his appearances on The Chronic. With Dr. Dre producing it and the momentum Snoop had, Doggystyle was almost a classic in our minds before we’d even heard it.

So on November 23rd (after a few delays), it finally dropped, and shit was nuts. This was the first time I recall everyone knowing what the release date was, and remembering to pick it up that day. I knew this one dude who came to school late that day, because he wanted to hit the mall and buy the tape first. It was just that big of a deal, especially since we’d been lookin’ forward to it for almost a year. I didn’t get to hear it until later that day, when my brother came home from work. As we’d usually do back then, we went in his room and put it on the big stereo. 16 years later, I’m still lovin’ that shit.

Doggystyle was the kinda album that a lot of artists try hard to make, but only a few actually do. It was something that you could play almost any song from and people knew what it was. It wasn’t one of those things that you play and they only know the singles, or only know certain tracks. Almost everyone I knew, from lil’ kids around my way to my oldest uncle, was rockin’ with that entire shit from front to back. It was like every song on there was a single, because joints like “Ain’t No Fun” were almost as popular as “Gin & Juice” was.

I never thought Snoop was the most super-lyrical MC in the world or anything like that. However, that shit only matters but so much when the songs are on the quality level of those on Doggystyle. His strengths weren’t in word-for-word lyricism. They were in his flow and making everything sound just right- something that a lot of rappers still neglect to this day. Snoop and Dre (with assists by Kurupt, Daz, Rage, Nate Dogg, Warren G, etc.) were putting together songs. At a time when artists were still conscious about not being on the pop or R&B side, they followed “pop” guidelines and made hard music with it. That combination worked more than a lotta artists probably knew it could, and it changed the game in that respect.

Doggystyle is almost perfect. The only thing that always irked me a lil’ bit was that I don’t think any album needs TWO intros. Outside of that minuscule gripe, there’s little that I could say on the negative side. I recall reading a few reviews that seemed to call it a disappointment, and one even suggested that it was more of a victory for Dre as a producer than it was for Snoop as an artist. Not sure about all that, but I’d love to hear more “disappointing” albums sound that good, and I do feel this was Dre’s best production work (followed closely by The Chronic and Niggaz4Life).

Snoop Dogg has been on and off ever since, but 1993 was his year- he had everyone checkin’ for him, he made a great album, and he was really one of the first (if not the first) to do astronomical first-week numbers with over 800,000+ sold. Even an impending murder case (which he beat in ‘96) wasn’t enough to stop what was goin’ on. Snoop n’nem came correct with every beat, verse, and hook, and it paid off. Even though it was 16 years ago, and he’s managed to stay relevant in pop culture through other songs/endeavors/etc., don’t get it twisted- Doggystyle is the reason he’s here.

“Gin & Juice”

“Lodi Dodi”

“Murder Was The Case”

“Ain’t No Fun” (feat. Nate Dogg, Kurupt, & Warren G)

“Doggy Dogg World” (feat. Kurupt, Daz, & The Dramatics)

“G’z Up, Hoes Down”

-D! (get ready for Da Dirty 30 on Wednesday…)

Definition Of A Band

As much music as I listened to during the ’90s, there are a few artists and albums that I admit I slept on and took a long while to get around to. One of those were Mint Condition.

I’d heard their songs and seen their videos here and there, but I wasn’t really up on them. It also didn’t help that for a minute there, I was on my “fuck R&B” mode for a lil’ while, so I wasn’t checkin’ for much of anything that wasn’t on Rap City. That was only for a brief time around ‘93-’94, but it was a gradual thing for me to fully get back into it.  Somewhere around the later part of the decade, I grew to appreciate Mint’s music. My brother was always playing their Definition of a Band album, and seeing as how my room was directly next to his, I couldn’t avoid hearing it.

But only in recent years have I really listened to their music. I guess that in hindsight, I can say that I wasn’t old enough for it back then. Even when I did get into R&B again, I still wasn’t into theirs, as I was into the sound that was more geared towards my age group. Listening to them now, I don’t know how “U Send Me Swingin” didn’t become a favorite of mine. Whether it was because their songs were too slow, or their style was too “mature”, or whatever the case- I definitely had the radar off when it came to them.

Mint Condition were one of the very few “band” groups that were getting airplay back then. As I said in the D’Angelo entry, a lot of R&B was all about beats and slow jams. Most band-based groups had faded out in the late-’80s, and the “Neo-Soul” thing hadn’t jumped off yet. So groups like MC and Tony! Toni! Tone! (to an extent) were really in their own world. Although they had some hits to their name (especially “Pretty Brown Eyes”), they were probably one of the most underrated R&B groups of the decade. They still make music and perform today, although not as regularly as they did then.

Ay, I can’t call it. My ears have mellowed out considerably when compared to, say, how they were in ‘94. Back then, the closest I would get to rockin’ with a live band was The Roots. Make no mistake, aggressive content is still aiight by me, but I’ve grown to re-appreciate some of the more melodic sides to this music shit too. And with that, I damn near wanna apologize for sleepwalking on the Mint.

“Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)” (1991)

“Forever In Your Eyes” (1991)

“U Send Me Swingin’” (1994)

“Spend The Night” (1996)

“What Kind Of Man Would I Be” (1996)

-D!

The ’90s Loved The ’80s: Between The Sheets

The Isley Brothers have had lots of their songs sampled and interpolated, especially “For The Love Of You”, “Choosey Lover”, and “Footsteps In The Dark”. But if there’s one Isleys song that’s put the most food on the table for them and others, it’s “Between The Sheets”. Mr. Biggs n’nem have caked off crazily from the song that put them back on the map in the ’80s. Lemme start from the beginnin’, at the top of the (abridged) list.

Isley Brothers “Between The Sheets” (1983): Had to start with the reason why we’re here. Not only has this song done a lot for a number of new artists, it also did a lot for the brothers themselves. At the time, they hadn’t had a hit that big in five years. Clearly, it must’ve gotten a lotta play in the homes of some kids who’d grow up to be rappers and producers in the following decade.

A Tribe Called Quest “Bonita Applebum (Remix)” (1990): Q-Tip & co. become the first (to my knowledge) to use it, for the second part of their ode to Bonita. Might also be the first remix to damn near be a totally different song, but don’t quote me on that. With the help of the sample and the always-catchy hook, this is one of ATCQ’s most memorable remixes.

Common Sense “Breaker 1/9″ (1992): Before you get between the sheets, you must steer clear of cock-blockers. They can be your friends, the potential partner’s friends, or sometimes your own cock. Here, Common channels the Isleys while chastising the people and predicaments that get in the way of a good time.

Da Brat “Funkdafied” (1994): That little waterbug Jermaine Dupri gets all slick with it and opts not to sample the music, but play it himself. Still, I’m sure he paid just like everyone else to kick off the career of your favorite stud and mine, Da Brat-Tat-Tat-Tat. The result was one of the biggest records of ‘94 and the first solo female MC to go platinum. Baptized in da funk!

Vicious “Nika” (1994): As the hip-hop/reggae thing was still rolling strong in the mid-’90s, the young protege of Doug E. Fresh, Lil’ Vicious came through dedicating this one to his favorite girl.  While singing/chatting/rapping about bicycles and icicles, Vicious’ “Nika” uses not one but TWO parts of “Between The Sheets”. Ladies say “owww!”, brothas say “hooo!”

Keith Murray “The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World” (1994): You’ll never hear a song with this many big words on the radio again (let alone one with the word “beautifullest” in it), but Keith popped up in late-’94 with this one and blew up crazy. With Erick Sermon replaying the music just like that muskrat Jermaine Dupri did, Mr. Murray danced on top of a Lexus and made a nice lil’ hit for himself. And just when you thought artists in ‘94 had used that Isleys shit to death…

Notorious B.I.G. “Big Poppa” (1994): You knew it was comin’… the biggest hit (of the ’90s, anyway) to use the sample was B.I.G.’s second single from one of my favorite albums. This beat was originally to be used by the Lost Boyz, but they passed it back to Bad Boy in exchange for a track that later became “Jeeps, Lex Coupes, Bimaz, & Benz”. With Christopher lacing his lyrical douches in your bushes, “Big Poppa” became a major hit that’s still heard today.

NEXT MONTH: The 2000s Loved The ’90s… and I got proof.

-D!

Wu-Weak

I hope y’all enjoyed Wu-Week. There’s some stuff I didn’t cover, such as a full-on appreciation of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, RZA as a producer, or the magical staying power of Ghostface, but I’ll talk about those things at one time or another in the future. As y’all have probably noticed, Wu was definitely one of those crews that I stayed listening to. As I said on Wednesday, at one point in time, anything with the Wu symbol on it was at least worth a listen.

HOWEVER… because I did spend a number of years listening to anything Wu-related, it’s hard not to mention that every listen wasn’t a good one. Even in their prime years, the Clan has also provided some “WTF?” moments in stereo. You may not agree with all of these, or maybe you will, but here’s five not-so-great things that came from the chambers:

Method Man “The Riddler” (1995): I understand it was for the Batman Forever soundtrack. I understand that Mr. Meth prob’ly got a nice check and didn’t give a damn. But that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most half-assed songs from what at the time was my favorite crew in hip-hop. Thankfully, they were still putting out consistent bangers to compensate for this mumbo-jumbo.

RZA feat. Method Man & Cappadonna “Wu-Wear” (1996): Another soundtrack joint, this time from High School High, and another phone-it-in moment for the Wu. This one is practically an commercial for their clothing line (of which I definitely purchased a shirt or two), and the most memorable thing about it is how brutally MTV cut the video up, due to all the name-dropping and flagrant logo violation. Mighta worked better as a radio ad.

Masta Killa. No, not a particular song or album. Just Masta Killa as a member of the group. He started off killin’ shit on “Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’” and some of his other appearances weren’t bad either. Then, somewhere around “Triumph”, he forgot how to rap and just started talking reeeaaal sloooow with a monotone voice. I thought U-God was pretty expendable too, but I’d watch this video with the sound off before I rock with a Masta Killa album.

Method Man, Tical 2000: Judgment Day (1998): If it appears that I have somethin’ against Method Man like I’m Joe Budden or somebody, nothing could be further from the truth. At one point, he was the one whose solo shit I anticipated the most, and he’s arguably been the most successful of the Wu members. Clearly, he musta done something right… but not this shit here. Coupled with RZA’s Bobby Digital, Meth’s sleep-inducing second album helped make late-’98 a bad look for the WTC.  Smells like fish.

Raekwon, Immobilarity (1999): In 2000, one of the things that made Ghostface’s Supreme Clientele a big deal was that it proved Wu-Tang could still make something great. Of course, that had to be proven because they’d been droppin’ mediocre shit through ‘98 and ‘99. One of the biggest disappointments was Raekwon’s second solo joint, Immobilarity. Maybe it caught extra flack because it wasn’t the OB4CL sequel that everyone expected (and wouldn’t get until this year), but even without comparisons, it was pretty got-damn weak.

Again, thanks for reading all of these Wu entries, and I’ll be back thru on Tuesday with some more random ’90s fukkery. ‘Til then, remember that it’s a secret. Never teach the Wu-Tang.

-D!

No Father To His Style

Five years ago today, two days before his 36th birthday, Ol’ Dirty Bastard died. For whatever reason, it wasn’t as big a shock to me as some of the other deaths were. It didn’t get anywhere near the coverage that most of the others got, and it just seemed to come and go. Although it wasn’t treated or viewed as a big loss, I feel like hip-hop has become a LOT less unpredictable without him around.

I’ve talked about how influential Wu-Tang was during the week, and how much inspiration that other artists drew from them. But I can’t say the same about Dirty, because nobody ever successfully copied anything of his. He’s one of the few artists that reached a particular level of popularity, and yet, no one even TRIED to duplicate his shit. One reason for that, in my opinion, is because the nigro was legitimately nutso. I don’t know if another artist could’ve possibly pretended to be as off-the-wall as he was without it coming off phony.

ODB’s music was crazy by crazy standards. He started off normal enough on “Protect Ya Neck”, but once the album came out, he was known as “the crazy one” of the Clan. He was the extreme contrast to the more lyrically intricate members like The GZA or Inspectah Deck. He had all kinds of simple-yet-comical quotables like “do you wanna get ya teeth knocked the FUCK out?!”, “got burned once but that was only gonorrhea” and my favorite- “gotta get up and beeeeee somebodaaaay!” Even with just a few verses on the album, he stood out as one to look forward to.

BUT… true to how unpredictable he really was, his solo album Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version wasn’t anything like anyone expected. Even if you knew going in that it was gonna be a lil’ “different” (and how couldn’t it be with a food stamp card on the cover), you couldn’t have known it was gonna be that wild. It sounds like what happens when someone says “fuck it” and throws every crazy idea they have up against the wall… and all of ‘em stick. It’s definitely not for everybody, and it’s one of those things you have to listen to in full because most of it makes no sense otherwise.

The shit was insane. He barely had one song that was in the normal song structure. He opened the damn album singing “the first time ever you sucked my dick… I felt the Earth tremble under my baaaallllllssss”. He went on to do one verse twice on the same track, recite a pseudo-poem about oral sex, break into a “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” rendition outta nowhere, make random noises in between tracks, sing an entire song while paying tribute to his favorite soul singers, and all kinds of other madness. Even the “regular” songs on there were just less strange than the others.

And still… as much as he bugged out in stereo… then, there’s his actions outside of the studio. If you wanted to see a great interview or hear some shit you just didn’t hear everyday, Ol’ Dirty was the one to count on. He never failed, whether it was riding a limo to cash a welfare check on MTV, or singing “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” on The Box. There’s even a few that I’ve found on Youtube like this one, when John Norris asks him if he remembers Drew Barrymore from E.T., and he responds: “I remember the nigga that was ridin’ the bike in the sky”.

My all-time favorite, though, is one day when he was on TRL. He was there with Pras and Mya to perform “Ghetto Supastar”, and they had fans calling in and asking questions. One fan asked Dirty what he was planning to do to give back to his community. This muh’fukka put his hand on his chest, made a “who, me?” type face, shook his head and said… “Nothin’.” I can’t find it on the net to save my life, but if I ever do, I will watch that shit on a continuous loop all day.

ODB’s most high-profile wild-out moment was the one that has now carried over into the soul of Kanye- the Grammy appearance. Before “I’ma let you finish…” became the catchphrase of 2009, Dirty shut it down in ‘98 with “Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is for the children.” There’s also some other lesser-known moments that have been noted- he’s had altercations with The Roots, Doug E. Fresh, and Akinyele due to his refusal to leave the stage until he was ready to. But the best story yet is one that recently surfaced, of the time he took LL Cool J’s platinum plaque off the wall and pissed on it. Woooow.

To be clear, there was definitely tragedy in all of it. He was clearly mentally unstable, an alcoholic, and addicted to drugs. In fact, his drug use eventually led to his death in ‘04. If there could possibly be a bright side to that, Ol’ Dirty Bastard was able to turn things that most people are embarrassed by into the talent that made him the memorable personality he was.

ODB “Brooklyn Zoo” (1995)

ODB “Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Long Version)” (1995)

ODB “The Stomp” (1995)

Mariah Carey feat. ODB “Fantasy” (1995)

Wu-Tang Clan “Dog Shit” (1997)

Tha Alkaholiks feat. ODB “Hip-Hop Drunkies” (1997)

ODB “Got Your Money” (1999)

AND THIS CLASSIC RIGHT HERE:

-D! (Wu-Week concludes tomorrow with ‘Wu-Weak’… because even the greatest teams don’t win every game.)

Clan In Da Front

The saga continues… Wu-Week… Wu-Week. Building off of what I said the other day, I can count on one hand how many artists/groups/crews/labels had a run like the Clan did between ‘93 and ‘97. Even without selling the most records or doing most of what’s required of an artist to have today, they had a stronghold on hip-hop.

However… I feel like sometimes, their impact on the game has been somewhat underrated. Sure, they get all the praise and accolade in the world by their mega-devoted diehard fans. But Wu-Tang stans ain’t nuthin’ ta fuck wit’, and some of those dudes can even convince themselves to listen to Masta Killa for an hour straight, so that doesn’t count. By people outside of that contingent, it’s been swept under the rug just how many things Wu brought to the table during their peak. I don’t know if muh’fukkas conveniently forgot or have neglected to recognize it, but let’s talk about it…

Granted, Wu’s impact was more on the East Coast than anywhere else, but it was every bit as strong as Death Row’s was on the West around the same time. One thing that stood out about them is that they were bigger than just a great group- they were a group comprised of members that stood on their own and dropped their own solo projects. In addition to attacking with 36 Chambers, the solo albums that followed were all must-haves. From Method Man to Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Raekwon to GZA to Ghostface, anyone who was a fan of Wu-Tang made it a point to catch all of those albums when they dropped. Shit was like collecting action figures.

Wu-Tang established a level of brand loyalty with their fans that not many groups had before them. Even a group like Public Enemy at their height couldn’t get people to cop Terminator X or Sister Souljah’s shit. But the Clan was giving instant credibility to anything that came out with that “W” bird symbol attached to it. On top of the group and the individual projects, they even had a “B-team” that were able to gain their own listeners strictly by affiliation. Wu fans would at least give artists like Sunz of Man, Shyheim, and Killarmy a listen on the strength of being Wu.

Influence-wise, there’s a lot of artists who might not admit it today, but Wu had (in RZA’s words) “everybody changin’ their muh’fukkin’ name”. When Raekwon’s Cuban Linx dropped, and every member busted out with the “a.k.a.” shit, I can’t count how many people followed up for the next two years or so with some kinda alias. Nas was “Escobar”, 2Pac was “Makaveli”, Biggie was pushin’ the “Frank White” shit hard, AZ became “Sosa”, Fat Joe was “Don Cartagena”… it was a trend that everybody hopped on. Anytime an album features a skit that told rappers to stop bitin’ their shit, and rappers continued to bite their shit, that speaks for itself.

And it wasn’t just the artists in the biz. There were just as many aspiring artists who were damn near practicing copyright infringement. I know from my own encounters, B-More had more than a fair share of groups with 7-10 members that all had aliases. They’d always have these obviously Wu-inspired names like the “Disciple Assassins” or some shit, and hook-less songs with titles like “Left Ventricle” and whatnot. If it was like that here, I can only imagine how it must have been in New York and the surrounding areas. Just like all the other greats had their share of descendants, Wu-Tang definitely had theirs.

If it seems like I’m almost ready to credit these niggas with starting civilization, I ain’t goin’ that far. I just acknowledge that there’s a lot of things that weren’t goin’ on before Wu-Tang did it. RZA’s production at times stretched the guidelines of what could be sampled, while everyone else was either sticking to jazz or funk records. Then there’s the terms like “cream”, which may have been an everyday word around their way, but became an everyday word in hip-hop after “C.R.E.A.M.” dropped. All that “doin’ deals with Dominicans/eatin’ pasta with the Sicilians/coke connects in Bolivia” shit niggas were rappin’ about? Yeah, them. I could even talk about how Meth had dudes wearing gold fangs and wristbands and motorcycle gloves and shit, but y’all get the point.

With Wu-Tang, it was mostly all about the music. But inside of that music, and all the things that came with it, the whole game got affected in one way or another. There’s a lot of crews to this day who talk about having a “movement”, but theirs was shown and proven without the propaganda and slogans. That “Wu-Tang Killa Bees, we on a swarm” shit wasn’t just a slick-sounding catchphrase, it actually went down like that.

Method Man “Method Man (Remix)” (1993)

Ol’ Dirty Bastard feat. Method Man & Raekwon “Raw Hide” (1995)

GZA feat. D’Angelo & Inspectah Deck “Cold World (Remix)” (1995)

Raekwon feat. Ghostface Killah “Rainy Dayz (Remix)” (1996)

Ghostface Killah feat. Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa, & Cappadonna “Winter Warz” (1996)

Cappadonna “‘97 Mentality” (1997)

The RZA “Tragedy” (1997)

Wu-Tang Clan “Triumph” (1997)

-D!

“I’ll Let You Try My Wu-Tang Style…”

As promised… this is Wu-Week, as I will be covering some of the things that made the Wu-Tang Clan important not only to me as a listener, but to hip-hop as a whole. Clearly, I gotta start where their story begins. Nah, not the “Come Do Me” or “We Love You Rakeem” videos… the debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), which hit the stores 16 years ago today.

Around mid-’93, the buzz started on the Clan, off the strength of their “Protect Ya Neck” single. Then came “Method Man”- a joint that I recall hearing on the radio a few times one weekend, and by the following week, every other dude at my school was repeating that “M-E-T-H-O-D… Man!” hook. There was a lot of new music about to drop then, so my ears were all over the place at that point. I was mostly looking forward to albums by Snoop Dogg, Black Moon, KRS-One, A Tribe Called Quest, and even Erick Sermon’s first solo joint. I liked the Wu’s singles, but I wasn’t actually dying to hear the album, and I didn’t even know what day it was coming out.

But that November, about a week or two after it dropped, that’s when the shit kicked off for me. I went into a record store, intending to cop Das EFX’s second album, Straight Up Sewaside… but they were playing 36 Chambers in the store. It was at the end of “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ To Fuck Wit” and about to head into “C.R.E.A.M.” By the time “C.R.E.A.M.” ended and Meth was threatening to tie Raekwon to a bedpost with his asscheeks spread out ‘n’ shit [STOP], I was sold.

I might’ve listened to that Das album about five or six times total, but I played 36 Chambers to death all the way into the spring of ‘94. The Wu’s rise in the game came almost strictly off of street buzz and word-of-mouth, and I can understand why. If everybody else reacted the same way about the album that I did, then one person told five people, who told 10 people and so forth. I can’t count how many heads I put on to it, and I definitely ended up dubbing it for a number of muh’fukkas.

As I said earlier, there was other good stuff out there, but Wu was in a whole ‘nother zone. Sound-quality wise, the shit sounded like they recorded it on a blank tape and turned it in. Yet, at the same time, it was perfect. I can’t even picture hearing it any other way today. Whether intentional or not, it sounds exactly like the “Protect Ya Neck” video looked. The same way that video was EXTRA low-budget (even by ‘93 standards), and still drove their movement ahead… 36 Chambers sounded like a rough demo, but blew everybody else’s shit away.

I, and everyone I knew, literally listened to that tape until we knew every word of it. From the 12 actual songs (or 11, depending on how you count the two versions of “7th Chamber”) to the skits (“Is he, is he, is he dead?”) to that long-ass interview in the middle. The Karate flick samples, RZA’s beats, and of course the lyrics made it (and the Clan itself) a hands-down favorite for me. They even ended up going platinum, which I’m not even sure they expected, but officially established them as one of the top groups in the game.

With little to no advance hype or huge radio record, Wu-Tang blew the fukk up with an album that was too great to be ignored once the public caught wind of it. It was the beginning of a hellafied run for the Wu, which I’ll get into further with my next entry. 36 Chambers is the most perfect imperfect album I’ve ever heard, and I doubt I’ll hear another like it. Nobody does it like this anymore… not even them.

“Bring Da Ruckus”

“Shame On A Nigga”

“Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’”

“Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ Ta Fuck Wit”

“C.R.E.A.M.”

“Method Man”

-D!

This Is The New Stuff!

A cassette of Jock Jams, Vol. 2 and a King Just t-shirt goes to the lucky soul that can correctly identify where I got the title of this entry from. Don’t let the fringe benefits pass you by.

In between listening to lots and lots of old shit, I sometimes decide to live dangerously and check out some new shit too. Every now and then, I come across a song that forces me to repeatedly listen to it- and by choice, not by default like how the radio does. Over the last week or so, these five have found space in my iPod, somewhere between my L.A. & Babyface playlist and more K-Solo songs than I should prob’ly have. Check ‘em out:

Alicia Keys “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”: My favorite home-wrecker and yours is about to drop her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, next month. Her lead single “Doesn’t Mean Anything” was aight, but I liked it better when it was called “If I Ain’t Got You”. Her new one “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”, however, is more like it. If this song doesn’t become a huge damn deal, there is a problem with society at large.

Clipse feat. Cam’ron “Popular Demand (Popeye’s)”: I’ve been a fan of Clipse since “Grindin’” smashed the streets about eight years back (wow). I’ve also been a supporter of Cam’s retardedly wacky wordplay for a good 12 years. And then there’s The Neptunes, who I spent a good four years stanning earlier in this decade. All of these components together, and it’s a no-brainer that I’m rockin’ with this shit here. Daaaaaaaamn.

Amerie feat. Trey Songz “Pretty Brown”: Maybe it’s the Mint Condition sample, maybe it’s not- but I’m fukkin’ with this all day. Along with Trey Songz (who took time off from inventing sex and whatnot), Amerie drops one of those occasional magic songs she’s been capable of every once in a blue. Def Jam better get on their job.

50 Cent feat. Eminem “Psycho”: Much like the homie DMX, Fiddy’s music pretty much covered all the ground it’ll ever cover yeeeaaaarrrs ago. BUT I do still enjoy his interviews, and he still slides thru with some good shit from time to time. This new joint from Before I Self Destruct features Eminem, and they both go somethin’ kinda hard (as they’ve been known to do when they collab).

Ryan Leslie “Zodiac”: Shoutout to Dart Adams for puttin’ me up on this one via his site, Poisonous Paragraphs. R. Les’ new album Transition ain’t half damn bad, and “Zodiac” is the one I’ve been stuck on since I’ve downloaded heard it. Dumb lyrics aside, I can’t help but clap and hit a lil’ semi-step to this shit, and that’s really good enough for me. Shoutout to the Aries and Leo ladies… we’re compatible, babeh.

Next week is Wu-Week. It ain’t what you want babeh, it’s what you need babeh. Until then, y’all have a good weekend… and yeah, “F” love.

-D!

“Put Me On A Planet, Dammit, Where All The Sistas Look Like Janet…”

Welcome to November on DanjLovesThe90s, where you’ll be able to check out Wu-Week, find out why the Isley Brothers’ “Between The Sheets” has done so much for so many, and get to celebrate the big 3-0 with the fukkin’ man himself. But first things first, I wanna talk about this great woman right here. You can call her Penny, you can call her Damita Jo, you can call her Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty… but her first name ain’t “Baby”… it’s Janet.

I was about six years old when I really caught wind of who Janet Jackson was. Prior to that, I hadn’t ever watched Fame, and her years on Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes were a lil’ before my time. Naturally, my first introduction to her came when I started watching and taping videos. During ‘86 and ‘87, Janet’s six videos from her Control album (especially “Pleasure Principle”) got a lot of burn in the VCR at my house, just as the album got a lot of play on the stereo.

With the help of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (who I spoke of last month), Control was the album that saved her singing career, which at that point was on its last leg. Of course, they continued making hits together for all the albums that followed. It was hard to be a music fan in the ’80s and ’90s without hearing Janet. Even though I wasn’t necessarily buying her albums, I always knew when there was a new one out or when she had a new video, because she was all over the TV and radio. From stepping like the S1W’s on that Rhythm Nation shit to the sexual content on her later albums, Janet stayed on my radar for the most part through the ’90s.

To this day, Janet remains the only Jackson that did her thing without always being in the shadow of Michael, which speaks for itself. Of course she was Michael’s sister, but after a certain point, she wasn’t “Michael’s sister” more so than she was Janet Jackson. Even when Mike was killin’ it with Thriller, it wasn’t doing much to boost Janet’s career by association. She could’ve easily been in the same boat as Rebbie or Latoya, but she eventually got over on her own talent and music. That being said, she was also Mike’s biggest supporter when he went through all the crazy shit. She was right there with him in the “Scream” video, smashing TV’s and flippin’ the bird as MJ shocked the world with “stop FUCKIN’ with me!”

But I’d be remiss to just talk about the music without also mentioning how much of a BANGER Janet was. From the time I was six, staying up late to catch Friday Night Videos to the time I was 24 watching her titty pop out at the Super Bowl, there wasn’t much bad that I could say about JJ. I don’t know where to start with how big a deal she was. Do I talk about the smile? The body? The moves she did on stage when she got all freaked out? And then there’s some of those things she says on those songs… good got-damn. I may never wanna see her try to be a girl from the hood again, and I wasn’t crazy about that time she had those braids lookin’ like branches, but I could stand to watch Janet do almost whatever she wants.

Later this month, Janet’s about to drop a “Number Ones” album, consisting of songs that went to #1 whether in the U.S. or overseas. There are 33 songs on this album, just as a reminder to anyone who might not notice or acknowledge how major of a run she’s had. She’s also gotten back up with Jam & Lewis and is working on her 11th album, set to come out next year.

It’s been a minute since Janet’s dropped a great record (especially with that lil’ cockroach Jermaine Dupri trying to turn her into some kinda hip-hop MILF a couple years back), but I wouldn’t count out the chances of a comeback just yet. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s defied odds.

“Alright (Remix feat. Heavy D)” (1990)

“That’s The Way Love Goes” (1993)

“If” (1993)

“Any Time, Any Place (R. Kelly Remix)” (1994)

“And On And On” (1994)

“Velvet Rope” (1997)

“I Get Lonely” (1997)

“Got ‘Til It’s Gone (feat. Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell)” (1997)

-D!