DANJ! Presents Winter Six: 1993 (Black Hoodie Rap)

So… as we come to the last post of January on DanjLovesThe90s, I hope y’all have been enjoyin’ this Winter Six thing so far. For this one, we slide into 1993, which was a transitional year both for hip-hop and myself.

Music Television YOU Control

The other day on m’man Combat Jack‘s Daily Mathematics, I cited that as much as BET‘s programming sucks today, it’s always been more or less a glorified music video channel. Sure, I’ve been interested in a few non-musical things they aired back in the day, but for the most part? It was all about the videos. But when my TV wasn’t locked in on that channel, it was on “Channel 37”, better known as The Box.

The ’90s Loved The ’80s: “White People Music”

Growing up in the ’80s, once I got hooked to music, I started listening to everything. I listened to both the R&B and pop stations, watched any video show I could find on TV, the whole shit. Much to the surprise of my friends around my way, I liked a lot of what was often referred to as “white people music”. At the time, I hadn’t looked at or listened to it that way- it was all just music to me. The only real difference I knew was that there were “singin’ songs” and “rappin’ songs”. I could rock with this just as much as I did this with no problem. Unfortunately for me, I got clowned more than a lil’ bit about that shit.

Apparently, a lot of rappers and producers must have felt the same way. Along with the fact that some white artists used to be played on urban stations, some of these people seemed to have grown up equally exposed to “white people music” from the MTV era. From Method Man referencing a Hall & Oates hook to (of course) Puffy‘s use of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, lots of pop hits have been sampled/flipped/interpolated/etc. in the hip-hop world. It especially started happening more frequently in the last couple years of the ’90s, which brings us to today’s entry.

R.I.P. Apache

Big Rest In Peace to Apache, who’s best known for his 1993 hit “Gangsta Bitch”. He was a founding member of the Flavor Unit (that later included Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, etc.), in addition to becoming a primary ghostwriter and collaborator for Latifah, most notably on her biggest single, “U.N.I.T.Y.” He dropped one album (Apache Ain’t Shit) in ’93, but mostly fell back and kept ghostwriting after that. He died yesterday from what’s being described as a “protracted illness”. R.I.P.

DANJ! Presents Winter Six: 1992 (Do, Dah, Dippity)

Aight… it’s ’92, so what you won’ do…

Between ’90 and ’91, I’d had a total of four different addresses. Finally in December ’91, we moved into an apartment in South Baltimore, where I stayed for the next five years. To be honest, I really don’t remember much else about the winter of ’92 outside of that. I do recall my Chicago Bulls jacket that you couldn’t tell me wasn’t the shit, and that I was still a huge wrasslin’ fanatic who was the only Ric Flair stan in my class. Then, there’s the time I went nuts when we got cable, and that’d be about it. However, if there’s one thing I vividly recollect (as always), it’s the music. In addition to the entire Juice soundtrack, which I managed to have before I’d even seen the movie, these were the six OTHER songs I couldn’t stop listening to. I bet’cha remember:

All Black Everything

So… Jay-Z finally addressed that Illuminati/occult/freemason shit last week, eh? To me, it’s ridiculous that it even got to that point. I’m not so skeptical that I wouldn’t believe it if it was proven, but I’m also not so gullible that I’d believe it based on speculation. Some of the stuff I’ve seen on the net regarding his so-called involvement in the occult is plain retarded. I actually saw one video describing his background vocals as a “separate entity” appearing on the song. HA!

Now anyone dizzy enough to buy that will buy anything. Anybody could take some lyrics and drum up some shit that makes them out to be “eeee-viiiil”. In fact, I could do it. But it won’t be a Hova song. It’ll be one that’s been grossly overlooked during all these accusations of Illuminati ties and secret hand signals. This particular song was tied to a movie of the same name, and it was performed by none other than America‘s favorite negro, Will Smith. 12 years before “all black everything”, there were the “Men In Black”… a.k.a. The Masons.

Baby Girl

The first time I heard Aaliyah was in ’94, at the rec I worked at for my summer job. We usually played the radio all day, and “Back & Forth” was getting airplay out the ass. I wasn’t mad at it, but the one that really got me was the Isleys cover “At Your Best”, which became one of the few R&B songs of the time that I had serious love for. Of all the new singers that were poppin’ up back then, she had a couple of songs that helped her stand out from the pack (courtesy of her mentor and producer R. Kelly). It also didn’t hurt that she happened to be hot as all hell to a youngin like myself. If nothing else, she seemed like someone who’d at least be around for a while.

DANJ! Presents Winter Six: 1991 (A Ni**a Remember Them Muhfu**in’ Dances, Bwoy…)

Aight, so… it was a lil’ quiet around here this week. I had to take a lil’ time to recharge the batteries, and now shit’s back to life. And with that, DLT90s continues with the 1991 edition of the Winter Six series.

The winter of ’91 was a different thing. I was in sixth grade, back around my old neighborhood, known as “The Lake”, after moving away a couple years prior. I was back chillin’ with my friends from elementary school, but wasn’t going to the same middle school as them. My time in Westport was a suspension-filled experience, so I ended up going to an “alternative” school with all the niggas with “behavioral and emotional problems”. Either way, I still looked forward to Fridays- because even though I didn’t go to the middle school, I could still go to their dance every week (and I went to damn near every one). Rest of the time, I was in my brother’s room, either recording music off the radio or “borrowing” his tapes. It was around this time that I started something that eventually became one of my most recognizable traits- being any and everywhere with my headphones on. Here’s some of what I was listening to:

R.I.P. Teddy P.

Y’all know who this man is… and if not, you’ve at least heard of him. Maybe your parents used to play some of his records, or if you’re real young, your grandparents did. Or maybe you recall the part in Nutty Professor when ya man Sherman Klump gets to rockin’ with “Close The Door”. Or maybe, you’ve heard some of his work sampled before (Mobb Deep, Ghostface, Kanye, D’Angelo, Cam’ron, MC Eiht, etc.) He was one of the great soul voices of the ’70s and early ’80s (as lead singer of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and with his solo career), and he passed away earlier this evening at age 59. R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass.

DANJ! Presents… Winter Six: 1990 (Oh, Snap!)

In the timeless words of Ghostface, “his shape-up was ALL fucked up!” And with that, I begin the Winter Six– my own photographic memory along with six of my favorite songs from each year, which will be featured here every Friday until March. Checkitouuut: