(With Discovering the Classics, I chronicle my exploration of a variety of classic and influential albums that, for whatever reason, I had never heard before. Lately, my focus has been on old school hip hop. 1988 was a very big year for hip hop [many would out it only behind 1994 and 1987 as the best overall year for the genre], and I happened to have four albums from this historic year to review at the same time, which I've decided to condense into one mega-feature.)
EPMD
Strictly Business
Three signs I'm getting old:
1) I complain to my neighbors when they play their music loud (some people still have jobs to go to in the morning, ya know).
2) I don't understand people who wear headphones EVERYWHERE, like in a grocery store or at a restaurant (do you really need a soundtrack while shopping for frozen pizza and fucking Oreo's?).
3) I'm thoroughly annoyed by Eric Sermon's poor enunciation on some parts of Strictly Business. I mean, there's nothing wrong with his actual rapping, but goddamn, can that dude learn to separate his syllables a little better? Sweet Jesus. He tries to say "EPMD mania" and it comes out more like "eeppeeehdeeanya" or some shit. Sure, he's the greatest and most influential mind in hip hop history, but he must've had a lot of trouble in high school speech class. Goddamn whippersnappers.
That aside, it took me a while to appreciate this album, but when it finally clicked, it clicked hard. Top-notch production; every beat on this album kills.
"Let the Funk Flow"
Boogie Down Productions
By All Means Necessary
I have a love/hate relationship with KRS-One...or, probably more like/dislike. He has a commanding and proper delivery to his rhymes that sometimes I can tolerate enough to enjoy and other times grate on my nerves, partially because they can sound so dated. But maybe that's just me. One of the only flaws with By All Means Necessary is that the beats tend to meander at times. KRS handled the production (taking over for the late Scott La Rock) and he does a nice job for the most part, but some songs, like "Stop the Violence" most notably, are probably at least 45-seconds longer than they needs to be. That aside, this is every bit the hip hop classic as advertised. Hearing "Jimmy" sort of upset me though because it suffered such a horrible mangling of a sampling by Puff Daddy (for his 2001 single "Diddy"), in the same way that EPMD's "Let the Funk Flow" was mangled by Nas in 1999 (for "Nastradamus").
"Illegal Business"
Slick Rick
The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
If there's one thing to dislike about this album, it's the misogyny. Not like that's a new phenomenon in hip hop or anything, it just doesn't seem right coming from Slick Rick, who comes off more like an eccentric yet interesting weirdo than anything. Even still, it's hard not to like this album full of storytelling raps. It's too bad that he didn't have a more fruitful recording career. Following the release of this album, he got into a series of legal incidents that put him behind bars and he never quite recovered. Shame. He has probably the most distinctive voice in hip hop, and it would've been nice to hear it on another album that...you know, didn't suck because it was rushed out between stints in prison.
"Hey Young World"
Ultramagnetic MC's
Critical Beatdown
Holy crap, Ced Gee raps SO FUCKING HARD! It's hilarious as shit. It's like his whole approach to rap is to make up for what he may lack in lyrical skill by just emphasizing like every other syllable, as if in response to someone coming up to him and criticizing him for not being ultramagnetic enough and he's all "Oh YEAH, I'LL SHOW YO ass who's ULtramagNETIC!".
So essentially he raps like a 13-year old girl types on the internet yet somehow it works for him. Yeah, many people view this albums' place in rap history as not much more than a coming our party for Kool Keith, and yes, Kool Keith does drop some good rhymes, but Ced Gee is the highlight for me. He just starts hype and gets more hype as the album progresses. The album actually gets a little boring in the middle with the cluster of Kool Keith solo tracks. I don't know if the Ultramagnetic MC's have ever done a soft song (certainly not on this album), but I would love to see what he sounds like in one. "I really MISS my HOmies EVEN THOUGH THEY gone AWAY! I KNOW YOU in a BETter PLACE! and I HOPE to SEE you SOON one DAY!" It'd be the most hype street ballad ever.
"Ego Trippin'"
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