Here's another song for one of those rap critics who say that all rap music degrades woman. Today's offering is a classic song from the Bay Area underground legend Paris. Paris is like an underground version of Chuck D. He has intelligent heart felt lyrics that are delivered in a straightforward way where anyone can understand.
On top of being a beast on the mic, he's even a bigger beast behind the boards. Anyone who's heard his production on his first two albums can vouch for that. (I put his 1st album "Devil Made Me Do It" right up there with "the Chronic" as one of the best west coast produced albums ever) Paris is a one man band cause he does all of his own beats. He also produced the Conscious Daughter's first album that included the hit "Something To Ride To (Fonky Expedition)."
"And sista you don't need a man who cheats and mistreats and beats you bad It's better to have somethin then nuttin at all And end up like a case being worse than a close call So listen to the message in the song It ain't nuttin but a way to make us strong Quit being so quick to chase the juice And diss us tryin to taste another's fruit..."
This song is to uplift black woman, but a lot of the lyrics apply to the uplifting of all women in general. This classic remix was originally only available to DJ's on 12" vinyl, but has since been made available on Paris' collection that collects remixes, rare cuts, and b-side songs called "the Devil Made Me Remix."
A couple of songs came up on my iPod the other day and I almost forgot how much I enjoyed them. People that know me know that I'm a big fan of the singer/songwriter. People that really know me know that I also a fan of a pretty readhead. It's because good ones are so rare. I'm talking about singer and songwriters, of course... But it could also apply to... Back to the lecture at hand...
The first video is for "Raincoat." It's a relaxing song reminiscent of Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why" in feeling.
The second clip is a live performance of my other favorite song from the album "How 'bout you" It's a catchy mellow pop song.
Here's a classic that I was listening to on my iPod the other day and was thinking that this is a song that everyone needs to hear. This is a classic from 1994 that most of you have probably heard one way or another. They've probably played it in a club or mixshow and you wanted to track it down but never knew the name of it.
This came out in a time when Nervous records was still a credible record label for urban music (after the success of Black Moon and right before the Smif-n-Wessun album).
KRS-One handled the production and he gave Mad Lion a banger. Krs' production did for Mad Lion what it did for Chanel Live, it gave them a hip-hop classic as a debut single...
I first saw this guy on Comedy Central Presents several years ago and he cracked me up. Since then I've made sure to give everything by him a listen. Here's two of my favorite songs of his. (warning there's colorful language in these performances)
1) Special - From his 2000 cd "A Little Bit Special"
This song is about his friend "Special Ed who got dropped on his head."
2) Talk to Me - From his 2002 cd "Superhero"
Here's a song of him getting caught in a compromising position. There's no better way to describe it than to just give the lyrics to the chorus:
"Well it seemed last night you caught me spankin' it There's no denying it I was really crankin' it Well dry your eyes don't be so sad if you could just forgive me.... and talk to me dad."
Hilarious!
If you just want to hear the songs (for those of you that have youtube blocked at work) I got you covered too.
Here's a great Cormega interview where he also discuses his "Who Am I ?" dvd and the writing process of his classic track "The Saga."
Here's a portion of the interview:
I’ll never forget writing “The Saga;” I was in Brooklyn, at my sister’s house, with no heat in the house. I went to sleep with a f**kin’ winter coat on. I was feeling that pain, that struggle. Damn. We had to heat up the house with a stove; this is how it is for n***as that’s poor. There’s people that live like that everyday. It’s probably March. My man KL from Screwball was there too, writing. We’re sitting there freezin’. So I said, “The saga begins, I’m a reflection of the drama within, in the ghetto I live in,” so I started just writing about the s**t I see.
I wrote the following about the song when I listed it in my "6 pack of underrated hip-hop songs"
It was hard to decide if this or (my personal favorite Mega song) "R U My N*gga" would make this list. I figured that this would be a better fit because the beat is incredible on this track where the lyrics are the biggest strength on the other track (the track is good too, just not incredible like this one).
There are other rappers who describe what goes on in the hood, but I don't think that anyone does it better than Cormega (Mega for short) because he can explain it in vivid detail without glorifying it.
"some of my friends first bids are two to fours others are on the run with huge rewards Mothers watch son's walk through the door for the last time 'till they go view at the morgue life is deep, we all just tryin' to eat rap's a mental narcotic, I supply the streets"
What separates Mega from almost every other street thug turned rapper is that he tells you the side of their mentality that you rarely get to hear.
"when I go to make a sale at times I wonder, are we goin' straight to Hell? or does God realize we're tryin' to make it as well my sleep is interrupted by food on the stove not gun shots, we're immune to those..."
In these lines Mega speaks on his mind frame when he was selling drugs. He knew he was doing wrong and he didn't want to have to do it but he was just trying to "make it." How often do you get to hear the mind frame of a street legend so candid and vividly described?
The answer... Only every time a new Cormega album is released.
Here are two of the greatest rap endorsement commercials ever. Reebok must have came out of pocket for the promotion of Iverson's shoes this year cause they hired The Trackmasters to put together a banging beat out of basketball sounds and Jadakiss to drop some lines about the most popular player at the time (Iverson). Though the St. Ides radio spots and the Nas & AZ commercial were dope, I feel that these take the cake. Let me know (by adding a comment) if you can think of a commercial that could give this one a run for their money and I'll add it in a future posting and see if people agree.
Jadakiss - Answer 5
Jadakiss & Allen Iverson - Answer 6
In this installment Jewels (AKA Allen Iverson) surprisingly holds his own with Kiss.
"Tryin' to build a team, I'm the playa ya need hard like Willis Reed, top thief & scorer in the league"
This very commercial might have been what made AI think that he could do a whole album cause he came off kind of nice here. He didn't really get run over like many others do when they're on a track with Jada.
If you just want to hear the songs (for those of you that have youtube blocked at work) I got you covered too.
This clip isn't new. I remember forwarding it to my friends about a year ago, but I did have an urge to watch it again. Here's a clip of a guy that robs a liquer store after hours. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, I guess it's more complicated then it looks. At least, he makes it look more complicated. I've got to hand it to the guy though, cause he can sure take some punishment.
Hopefully, the guy will land on his feet after he serves his time. Cause he sure wasn't landing on his feet while he was robbing the place. Bwahaha. I kid, I kid...
A blog for DJ Safe to introduce great music to people, share funny clips, pictures, or give my thoughts on the world. Everything's fair game, but since I'm such a music lover, I'm mostly going to be trying to introduce people to great music.
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