Week 4 Discussion (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)

Started by DKC, Jun 2, 2021, in Life Add to Reading List

  1. DKC
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    DKC hank trill

    Jun 2, 2021
    @BookClub

    Picks
    1990: A Tribe Called Quest - "Bonita Applebum"
    1991: Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks On Me"
    1992: Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg - "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang"
    1993: Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M."

    Rebuttals
    1990: LL Cool J - "Around the Way Girl"
    1991: A Tribe Called Quest - "Check the Rhime"
    1992: Beastie Boys - "So What'cha Want"
    1993: The Pharcyde - "Passin' Me By"

    Questions:
    1. Which picks do you agree with?
    2. Which picks do you disagree with—and do you agree with the rebuttals? If not, what song would you nominate?
    3. Importance (or lack thereof) aside, which of these songs do you like or dislike?
    4. Were there songs you'd never heard before?
    5. Discuss any interesting facts that stood out to you!

    Please ask any other questions you come up with!
     
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  2. DKC
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    DKC hank trill

    Jun 2, 2021
    Getting into the 90s—we're in the territory where it starts to get much harder because there's so much good music and so many important songs.
     
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  3. Chrollo
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    Chrollo ♱ كرولو

    Jun 2, 2021
    Ahhhh this one is hard. I'm at 1992 right now and so far I'm only sure of Nuthin but a 'G' Thang being the right choice in terms of importance. Brenda's Got A Baby by Tupac got released in 1991 and I think it's a f---ing strong contender for Mind Playin Tricks On Me. I think both songs give an insight at how gruesome and draining the street life can be, one in the form of a storytelling rap song and one as a surprisingly honest song from a horrorcore group. I guess Mind is still the right choice though but I'm kinda torn
     
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  4. 1999
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    Jun 2, 2021
    d--- my s--- still ain't came in the mail yet wtf :SMFH: should've just bought it full price with prime shipping smfh
     
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  5. Chrollo
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    Chrollo ♱ كرولو

    Jun 2, 2021
    I like Around the Way Girl more than Bonita Applebum. Yeah I'm salty, that LL Cool J didn't make the cut. Anyways, I wasn't spitting any game in 1990 because I still resided in my Dad's jewels so I don't exactly know of the importance of Bonita Applebum. It's cool that the Killing Me Softly sample originated from this song. I should really listen to more ATCQ.

    Nuthin But a G Thang is clear, that G Funk era and the impact it had was huge. So What'cha Want gives me a headache but it was probably a dope song to skate and hate your parents to in the´early 90s. I think Das EFX - They Want EFX is a better rebuttal. I mean:

    Bum stiggedy bum stiggedy bum, hon, I got the old pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
    But I can fe-fi or fo, diddly-bum, here I come
    So Peter Piper, I'm hyper than Pinocchio's nose
    'Cause I'm the supercalafragilistic tic-tac pro
    I gave my oopsy, daisy, now you've got the Crazy

    Drazy with the books, Googley-goo where's the gravy
    So one two, um, buckle my, um shoe
    Yabba Doo, hippity-hoo, crack a brew
    So trick or treat, smell my feet, yup I drippedy-dropped a hit
    So books get on your mark and spark that old censorship
    Drats and double drats, I smiggedy-smacked some whiz kids
    The boogedy-woogedly Brooklyn boy's about to get his, dig
    My waist bone's connected to my hip bone
    My hip bone's connected to my thigh bone
    My thigh bone's connected to my knee bone
    My knee bone's connected to my hardy-har-har-har

    The jibbedy-jabber jaw ja-jabbing at your funny bone, um
    Skip the Ovaltine, I'd rather have my honeycomb
    Or preferably the sinsemilla, Let's spiggedy-spark the blunts, um
    Dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun

    Tell me who was rhyming like this back then or ever again lol. Their rhymes were weird but they made them sound good. Basically the predecessor of a lot of rappers today that put the focus on the vibe of the song, instead of the rhymes. Adding -diggedy to their rhymes also made the insanely unique and fun to listen to.

    And for 1993: C.R.E.A.M is, similar to Paid In Full, the purest form of Hip Hop. I don't think there is any better choice for 1993. That Pharcyde song is really catchy but in no way a match for The Almighty Wu. The dude who suggested it basically just said it was a cool song for teenagers,who got rejected to relate to lmao.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2021
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  6. DKC
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    DKC hank trill

    Jun 2, 2021
    Peep the ebook while you wait, I believe you're in the group DM
     
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  7. DKC
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    DKC hank trill

    Jun 2, 2021
    Brenda's Got a Baby is definitely an influential song—but to me, "Mind Playin' Tricks on Me" did a few really important things:

    #1: It helped "legitimize" southern/Texas rap in the eyes of coastal purists (and even some New York purists that weren't even down with the west coast.) This was likely one of the first Southern rap songs the average person heard (unless they heard "Me So Horny" or another 2 Live Crew song, which I doubt did anything to sway the lyrical purists lol). Ask any New York old head for their top 10 and scarface will likely be in there as the lone southern artist (or perhaps Andre 3000 as well).

    #2: It's perhaps the first major rap single that really delves into mental health issues. Scarface and Bushwick Bill especially were really f----- up mentally (not sure about Willie D, I don't know much about him) and their lyrics are far cry from the boastful nature of early rap that was so concerned with how cool you are, not your inner demons...and that's not to say that there weren't many rappers that talked about serious subjects before this, but I think you can trace this song's influence through rap history til today in terms of speaking on mental health in songs.

    (Side note: Scarface's memoir would be another good choice for bookclub, I only ever read half of it tbh and would like to finish it regardless).

    #3: Helped legitimize Rap-a-Lot/J Prince. J Prince is an extremely important/influential figure in rap, boxing, and other business ventures if you don't know much about him (his memoir is also interesting but not all that well written imo lol). Without J Prince, we might not even have Drake because it was his son who brought him to his attention and connected him with Wayne.
     
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  8. DKC
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    DKC hank trill

    Jun 2, 2021
    It's also crazy how many song there are that pay homage to the OG song (or at least use the same Isaac Hayes sample lol)
    OG


    Scarface solo sequel:


    Bushwick Bill solo version:


    Future (homage in name)


    Kodak Black - Transportin'


    Rio Da Yung OG
     
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  9. Chrollo
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    Chrollo ♱ كرولو

    Jun 2, 2021
    Agreed that is a lot to credit them for. To this day Scarface thematizes mental health in his songs (Deeply Rooted for example) and for the Geto Boys doing it all they way back in '91 (in even a more extreme fashion) is very ground breaking. I haven't even thought about the whole aspect of them putting southern rap into the big picture, which is a great point you've made.
     
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  10. jankland
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    jankland In My Cringe Arc.

    Jun 2, 2021
    I was gonna catch up a couple days ago but the right side of my headphones stopped working so it bummed me out a bit I'm gonna try to get caught up though!
     
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  11. jankland
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    jankland In My Cringe Arc.

    Jun 10, 2021
    "Bonita Applebum" was cool I really appreciate the smooth laid back vibe that ATCQ gives off but other than that I don't have much to say about it

    "Around the back girl" was the same for me but I kinda really like the hook for this song


    "Mind playin tricks on me" was super dope the third verse was my favorite imo and the last verse threw me off a bit I never knew about that album cover and the f----- up story behind it like I knew Bushwick bill had lost an eye but I didn't know it was because of something that f----- up and sad

    @Chrollo speaking of f----- up and sad you brought up "Brenda's got a baby" which is definitely a pretty serious contender for the most important song of that year and in my brain it is more important but probably only because I knew about it prior to reading this book


    "Check the Rhime" is also a pretty dope song for the same reasons "Bonita Applebum" was except I think I like this song more than Bonita


    "Nuthin but a g thang" is surprisingly a song I never really listened to even though I knew of it but Snoop f---ing killed it and Dr Dre had one of the most iconic lines in rap "Never let me slip, 'cause if I slip, then I'm slippin'" I also believe I've heard of G funk being a genre before but I didn't know it was describing Dr Dre's style of music but it makes sense once I think about it for more than a fraction of a second lol

    Also f--- this author jump around is great lmao


    And finally "So wat"cha want is fine it's basically like every other Beastie boys song where it exists to be an earworm and it f---ing works

    I should be finishing week 4 in the next couple days!
     
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  12. DKC
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    DKC hank trill

    Jun 10, 2021
    We're gonna do a bye week next week so you have an extra week to catch up!
     
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  13. jankland
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    jankland In My Cringe Arc.

    Jun 11, 2021
    Yeah I assumed that would be the best course of action!
     
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  14. 1999
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    Jun 11, 2021
    [​IMG]

    Lets go
     
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  15. jankland
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    jankland In My Cringe Arc.

    Jun 15, 2021
    C.R.E.A.M. was pretty good I enjoyed the content more than anything also was that math s--- with Wu Tang Clan intentional or just reaching? Cause that's some big brain s--- lol

    Passin' me by was super dope I really liked their voices and flows and rhyme schemes so the song as a whole it just sounded really good to me even if the subject matter isn't all that
     
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  16. Sign Language
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    Sign Language We miss you Screw

    Jul 11, 2021
    Was hoping to see 93 ‘Til Infinity for 1993
     
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