Old School Friday - 11th Grade

I've already done an 11th grade edition, you say? Well this time, it's all west coast baby. So put on a pair of khakis, slide on ya croaker sacks, and hit a switch on a "mark ass buster." It's a three day weekend for me, so I will be drinking heavily and doing my damndest to act responsibly. You should too.

Kam - I Still Got Love 4 Um

"Thought they were smart and got crushed like relish." This song was tailor made for Old School Friday. That groove just makes you wanna reminisce. The video is funny though, for one reason. Why is Kam wearing so many clothes? He's got a t-shirt on under a long sleeve shirt, and later throws on a jean jacket. It's LA. You don't need layers in LA. Like Tommy Chun said, there's so much gang violence in LA cause dudes is mad hot.




DJ Quik - Jus Lyke Compton

Why is Quik so underappreciated? His name rarely comes up when talking about best producers in the game. Look at his track record. It's practically flawless. OK, he fell in love with sleigh bells for a while, but look beyond that. He's never released a bad album. His musicianship has always been on point. I guess he's never had that major mainstream hit, but damn, does he need it?




The Pharcyde - Otha Fish

Tre gets the keys to the car on this joint, and he pretty much rips it. This was probably my favorite track off the album. A little different. A little quirky. But 100% dope. Too bad Labcabincalifornia didn't sell more. I'm sure these guys had a couple more hits in their holster.




Da Lench Mob - Gorillas In The Mist

"BOOM PING PING! Listen to the ill shit that I bring bring!" On it's surface, this song is kind of absurd. But it's dope because the fellas are so into it. They're just so committed. Even Short Dog, who only says about 10 words the whole song. You just gotta love a good middle class work ethic.




The Coup - Dig It

"I ain't waitin'. Turn the shit over like Bush did a boatload of Hatians." Conscious rap? From the west coast? Yepper. The Coup had it in spades. But they also had funky beats, which was a must since they were from Oakland. Unfortunately like I wrote about PE last week, The Chronic pretty much erased conscious rap from the world. But, thank God we have youtube!




Ice Cube - Wicked

OK, so yeah. I was into Ice Cube. What gave it away? Anyway, some people hated on Cube because of the cameo by the Red Hots. Didn't they know that the Red Hots have a lifetime ghetto pass? Didn't they know that George Clinton produced their second album? Flea and Anthony breaking shit in an abandoned building is Grade A as far as I'm concerned.




Too Short - I Want To Be Free

"And till this day they think I'm selling coke." "Shorty The Pimp" was not the greatest Too Short album, but it did have a few joints. This track and "Something To Ride To" were definitely the crown jewels. Now you can say what you want about Todd Shaw, but that dude really never stopped rapping. He's the only cat to have an 11-track album last over an hour. I guess the pimping can't be distilled down into easy-to-swallow form for us commoners.