2845953, ^^^what the Lesson is supposed to be...Thanks Bomb Posted by Anonymous, Sun Oct-06-13 02:42 PM
>Straight Outta Compton, The Chronic, Cypress Hill, >Doggystyle, either of Cube's first two solos. > >Those were all monumental, crucial in making the genre a >commercial force & turning the landscape from r&b/rock to rap >bleeding into those genres plus being bigger than any of them >outside country/assembly-line-pop by the late 90s. > >if you lived back east during the late 80s/early-90s, these >were the records that were getting the attention almost to the >exclusion of many other good more regionally-based acts. >
I agree with that. The Chronic was probably the first album I bought back in the day when I started listening to Hip-Hop heavy.
>You had to either be watching a ton of Video Music Box & to a >lesser degree Yo! to see any of those acts. > >In some cases you probably had to be out here & listening to >KDAY. > >******************************* Anecdotal Sidebar >************************************ > >I saw the Eazy-Duz-It Tour (NWA, Eazy, PE, Kid N' Play, Too >Short, Kwame, JJ Fadd, Salt N' Pepa) at age 12 and they booed >Too Short off the damn stage at the Philadelphia Spectrum. > >That motherfucka was platinum at the time, I was too young to >be aware of those kind of odd divisions. > >Oh & Short's show did suck that night as well. > >Philly was used to that Fresh Fest/Run-DMC/Kane/PE/Moe >Dee/Heavy D & Da Boyz level of showmanship with sets, dances, >call-and-response. > >Short came out pacing back and forth with shitty sound, >clutching his dick & then almost flaming out on purpose by >around the eight-minute mark until he was booed off stage so >loudly I couldn't hear the words in the 300 level. > >*************************************************************************************** >
Cool story.
>You also had the blockbuster crossover hits now seen more as >novelty records like Bust A Move, Wild Thing, You Can't Touch >This, Baby Got Back, Humpty Dance, Passin Me By, Regulate, I >Got Five On It, etc. >
I remember all of those joints and minus the last three, they were seen as a joke or a novelty. I'd say the same can be said for Regulate today.
>I don't have any data on deck to back it up but the West Coast >for being virtually dormant nationally up until maybe '87 but >more like '88 in earnest I'm guessing produced more hits that >made their way into Top 40 & sold more albums than New York >from then up through maybe '94/95 with less acts in terms of >sheer numbers. >
I'd agree with that without seeing the numbers.
>So what you're left with is songs that once they crossed into >the mainstream have been played so incessantly you don't care >if you hear them again or albums that were such landmarks of >their era that we might have worn them out then and/or they >feel rooted in that time. >
This is the interesting part. I do think his play into my initial observation which makes it hard to separate. Like I said, The Chronic, Black Sunday, Doggystyle, The Predator...I just don't listen to those albums ever despite growing up on them. However, I do recall growing up on Illmatic, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, Cuban Linx, The Infamous just the same and I listen to those albums still to this day. And while they didnt get the same commercial burn, I played them even more back then than I did the West Coast albums that I listed.
>I can't recall the last time I played Cypress Hill's first >album. > >I also can't say there was an album that we played more in >1991. > >It might even still sound good but it's been locked & loaded >in the mental rolodex since age 14 so if I'm ever just sitting >in silence I can probably conjure it up in my head. >
I never listen to that joint...granted I got Black Sunday first and then went back and copped it.
>Not to mention, Cypress' falloff was awkward to me, almost as >awkward as PE's even though they weren't as important to me on >the whole. > >In both cases on the surface it was for different reasons but >ultimately stained by the same thing (they became accepted as >rock and roll, which at first seemed cool but ultimately >ruined both.......'How I Can Just Kill A Man' rocks harder >than 'Rock/Rap Superstar' or whatever that trash was, 'Public >Enemy #1' is far harder ripping than Scott Ian stumbling >through a pointless 'Bring The Noise' remake). > >That's an entirely different post however. >
Agreed...you should make that post.
>In regards to your observation me nowadays will be reaching >for Uncle Sam's Curse, Coast II Coast, Likwidation, Quik's 3rd >& 4th, CMW's first three, Don't Fight The Feelin, Fear Itself, >In A Major Way, Konnectid, Who Got The Gravy, loads of random >TDE shit, Streetz Iz A Mutha, Born To Mack & others before I >bother playing Straight Outta Compton outside 'If It Ain't >Ruff' (check that remaster in some headphones, that envelope >bass tickles inside your ear......Dre is a genius no matter >what some of y'all say). > >But I can't in good conscience tell you that most if not ANY >are better than any of those 'classics' if you were starting >from scratch. >
I'm not sure if I agree. Death Certificate is great. Other than that...there are a lot of holes in those classics in my opinion.
>My middle school teachers were not up on Illmatic & wringing >their hands over its messages. > >The cute blonde who had the purple tape in her car just called >it 'The Wu' & didn't connect it to Liquid Swords. > >I don't remember the video for My Melody. >
Not sure how much of that is important to our conversation. I'm looking at these albums in retrospect so whatever was going on at the time is whatever. When I look back to Cuban Linx...I play every track and am reminded of the greatness. When I listen to The Chronic I'm kind of reminder that outside of its impact, it's really a spotty album.
>Express Yourself was on literally every goddamn day with them >busting through the white banner in the black hats & Eazy >ducking shots at the parade. > >That's a long way to go to not really fully commit to a >legitimate final answer to five West Coast albums but c'mon, >the question you asked is a complex one for the reasons I >tried to lay out above but we had fun, right? >
You're right, it is a complex answer which is why I asked. This is good music discussion though Bomb. If I wasn't watching the little one I would have gone in a little more.
>**************************************Anecdotal Headphone >Postscript********************** > >Not sure who it was the last time Straight Outta Compton was >discussed, maybe mrhood but whoever was horrified as I was >telling them that 'Quiet On The Set' is just *aight*, my bad, >I was tripping. > >Home trying to fight off this food poisoning that's been >tearing me up since Friday AM, had me hurling in the bathroom >of Standard Station Pub in El Segundo during lunch yesterday >then cold-sweating at my desk for a half hour before >peacing-out for the week shortly thereafter. > >This post inspired me to throw Straight Outta Compton & this >cherry lemonade with Vodka along with 'Quiet On The Set' is >saving me right now. > >I swear, I might even be able to go out tonight if all the >sudden I like 'Somethin 2 Dance 2'. > >Oh wait, hell naw.....that shit just came on now. Still goofy >as shit. I think you had to grow up out here & spend weekends >on Crenshaw in the mid-80s to appreciate Arabian Prince or >Rodney O & Joe Cooley. > >This song is dripping activator juice into my earholes & my >stomach is knotting up again.
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