Whenever creating a list of songs to include in a Lyrics Quiz I try to run a fine line of songs or lyrics that aren’t so easy that the first person can answer all of them and song or lyrics that are so obscure no one would get them. Every once and a while I’ll throw in one of my eclectic favorites to see if anyone will get it. So I was happy to see that Doug was able to pick out Passin' Me By from the Pharcyde during the latest Lyrics Quiz (which still has a couple left, plus some hints I added). I was so happy to see he get it that I was willing to overlook he somehow was also able to get Iesha and Live and Learn, two songs that probably should be forgotten by history.
In a time when gansta rap ruled, the Pharcyde were the rare old school cats that came out of South Central. And among all the braggadocios, they managed a minor hit about not getting the girl, something I was familiar with at the time. I even pulled out the line, “the only lying I would do is in the bed with you” to no avail. I even got to see the troop live when they came to my campus (and really, you have never lived until you heard the like version of Gangsta’s Paradise) where I picked up one of my favorite tour shirts with a dog having its way with a fire hydrant.
Passing Me By is easily in my top five rap songs of all time with its love lorn lyrics over a mix of Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix tracks. Take a listen for yourself below (sorry for the poor quality of the song, you’d think the record company would put up a much higher quality version):
Got a song you think everyone should feed their iPods? Send me an e-mail (see sidebar) along with a short paragraph why people should download it and/or what it means to you and maybe I will feature it in a future post. This segment is meant to highlight songs that may have slipped thought the cracks when released or maybe album tracks that you think should have been released as a single. So no Born in the U.S.A., Big Pimpin', or Your Body Is a Wonderland needed.
1991-1993 is definitely the golden age of hip hop. I was 13 in 1991 and 90% of what I listened to was rap and R &B. Who could forget the classics like Naughty By Nature, MC Lyte, Nice and Smooth, Lords Of The Underground, EPMD, Das EFX, Redman, Wu-Tang Clan (the amazing first album), Ice Cube (Death Certificate and The Predator), Gang Starr, Brand Nubian,
ReplyDeleteThe list goes on and on.
Yes, I actually owned the cassette of Joe Public and Another Bad Creation.
I like to usually play my entire ipod on random. With over 10,500 songs on it, I still get the most excited when I hear one of these old school rap songs.
My musical tastes have totally shifted though as I got older. Now only about 10% of what I listen to is rap/R&B and I tend to like the stuff that's not as mainstream. So much of it is such crap now.
These kids don't know what they are missing growing up in this era of music.
Wow, you almost described my Middle School experience to a tee, although you totally forgot A Tribe Called Quest and I was boycotting Ice Cube then as I fell into the N.W.A. camp (aww, the days of rap feuds when fans actually took sides instead of sitting on the fence like fans today).
ReplyDeleteI guess I should admit to having the Another Bad Creation tape somewhere too (although I drew the line at Joe Public, except of course having the song on my iPod).
You know what's funny? As soon as I posted the comment, I realized I forgot to include A Tribe Called Quest..And who could forget when "The Chronic" came out?
ReplyDeleteRemember when the only rap on TV was on Yo! MTV Raps?
We also used to have a public access station that used to play a show called Video Music Box daily which played 1 hour of rap videos. The only rap on the radio was 1 hour a week with Ed Lover's Top 10 weekly countdown.
I would love to see a list of songs on your ipod. I don't know how to generate a list of mine online, and with over 10,000 songs it's too time consuming to type. Do you know of any way to do this? I would love to add it to my Myspace page. I'd also have no problem to send you some old school rap mp3s. (If there was anything I had that you didn't)
Email me at dougjacobson@gmail.com
Certainly The Chronic was a seminal rap album, but it has been devalued a little bit because almost every rap album since has sounded like a watered down version of it. Which is why rap is almost unlistenable these days because they are just rehashing what Dre did fifteen years ago (wow, fifteen years, that makes me feel old).
ReplyDeleteI loved Yo! MTV Raps (and had more than a few of the cassettes they put out), and since it was on right when I got home from school it was like Ed Lover and Doctor Dre were my babysitters for about five years.
It is actually pretty easy to create list from your iPod all you have to do is in iTunes go to File and click export, I suggest you save as an XML file (assuming you have Excel) because then it is easier to format because it lists everything about each song, about ten columns long.