Old School Friday - 7th Grade

1988. $.90 gas. Alf. "A Fish Called Wanda." Puberty. "Kids In The Hall." And...oh yeah the Golden Age of Hip Hop. It was a glorious time. Like WC said, "When only those with mic control made a profit." Boy, I feel like Ben Kenobi telling Luke about the Clone Wars. But, don't take my word for it. Take a gander.

p.s. Yes, I know I left out Rakim, PE, Biz Markie, and a host of others. The internet isn't going anywhere. There will be more posts. Chill. Also, no that's not me in the 7th grade. That's me at Montessori School. Couldn't find my yearbook.


Tone Loc - Wild Thing

"Hasta la vista baby." Ahnuld owes this dude some money. Seriously. Any way, I forgot how hilarious this video was. From Tone's dancing and facial expressions, to the poor production quality, this joint is primo comedy. Too bad that cats hated on Tone for being too commercial. "Loc'd After Dark" is a classic that I will still bump to this day, no hesitations at all. "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina" are the weakest tracks, and they're still tight. The album is clean all the way through.

Big Daddy Kane - Ain't No Half Steppin

"The B-I-G, the D-A-Double D-Y K-A-N-E. Dramatic, asiatic, not like many." What you know about four-finger rings?!? That's pimpin'.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince - Brand New Funk

"With special assistance from my homeboy Ready Rock." People like to clown Will's skills, but this album is classic. Is Jeff on the all time underrated list? His name is never mentioned among the great DJs, but their early stuff is dope. That's like perpetually getting kicked out of the house by Uncle Phil.




Stop The Violence Movement - Self-Destruction

"Heaven's at the door so there'll be no bum rushing."SML and Waldini clowned on me for not including this on the Posse post. Are you happy now?!? But seriously, this track is classic squared. Almost all of the dope cats from the era get to spit a verse, and all for a good cause. What could be better? Swing.

MC Lyte - Paper Thin

"Sucka you missed." I want to make this beat my first ex-wife. Then once we're divorced, I wanna marry it again. I can't help it. This beat is more intoxicating than 10 jager bombs and Jager bombs make me do dumb shit. So there you go.Swing.

BDP - My Philosophy

"A lot of MC's like to use the word drammatical." Since he's a legend, I'm gonna cut him some slack on drammatical and unrational not being words. When you're an all time great, you can get away with some shit. Just look at Magic [I kid]. But the great thing about KRS is, he can perform this song right now and elicit the same reactions he got 20 years ago. Dude is just timeless.

NWA - Express Yourself

I remember the first time I heard "Straight Outta Compton." I got off the bus and my boy showed me the cassette case. When I saw "____ Tha Police," I knew had to listen to it immediately. So I went to my room, popped the tape, turned it down low, and put my ear to the speaker. I really haven't been the same since. God bless you Eric Wright, Andre Young, and O'Shea Jackson.

School Daze - Good Or Bad Hair

I have so-called "good hair." There is nothing inherently good about it, but in high school it was a nice conversation starter with white kids. I'd get questions like "How do you get your hair like that?" I always wanted to answer "Well your great-great-great grandfather raped my great-great-great grandmother, 200 years passed, and here I am." Unfortunately I never ginned up the requisite balls to respond accordingly. Anyway, black people are funny. My maternal great-grandmother didn't want any "dark" babies in the family. So of course her youngest daughter married a dark skinned man. Thanks for being hard headed grandma. Otherwise my ass wouldn't be here.




AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT


U2 - Angel Of Harlem

Once upon a time, I hated on U2 because "Joshua Tree" destroyed "Bad" at the '88 Grammys. But started to thaw when "Desire" came out. Then I heard this joint and I was sold. Done and done. These Irish boys have some soul.