Episode One: Group Therapy
I don’t know if you’ve noticed recently, but there has been a rather significant piece missing from hip-hop’s puzzle. It seems to me that today’s current crop of rappers would much rather go for dolo than with a crew to back them up (and no, weed carriers don’t count). It is understandable though; the way rap has been selling, who wants to split a royalty check that resembles a pre-paid phone plan price?
Unfortunately, this eschewing of the group has led to really terrible music as of late. The worst part about this is when said solo rapper decides to throw some lackeys who are more adept at hiding the Cal on them a chain and some Bathing Apes, not unlike the typical music video slore, and proceed to violate the rap public’s ears with a plethora of god-awful music. While it used to be relegated only to the average mixtape, thus making it easy to avoid and ignore, this train wreck of an idea is showing up on major label releases more prevalently than ever.
Groups have been around for almost as long as hip-hop itself. So it shouldn’t be surprising when the predictable telltale of internal turmoil and strife leads to the dissolving of the group. I’ve mentioned in one of my blogs for this site that when this occurs, the end result is a pair of vapid solo releases, leaving its core audience longing for the tag-team theatrics of before.
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I have always been a fan of the group song, so with this being the inaugural Slang Editorial, I’d like to present a playlist of some of my favorite group/duo songs. I’ve taken the liberty of adding the songs as well; perhaps I felt some remorse after looting the Internet for most of my music for the past 7 years, but whatever. Please note that this is not a list of the greatest posse cuts of all time, and that I deliberately left out the prominent ones in an attempt to open our readers both young and old to cuts they may have not heard or simply forgotten about them.
Cru featuring Slick Rick, Just Another Case – After MC Ricky D got sprung from the pokey after his five-year attempted murder bid, he immediately went back to the studio and produced a plethora of gems in the late nineties. This often overlooked storyteller features a flip on the most recognizable lines from his vintage Children’s Story, backed by the guitar strings of the forgotten Rhythm’sThe World Is A Place.
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The Pharcyde, She Said (Jay Dee Remix) – Before James Yancy became J Dilla, he was licking his chops as an outsourced producer for A Tribe Called Quest. However, it was his trip out West that produced this song for The Pharcyde’s second album, which put the hip-hop world on notice. Backed by ethereal organ pumps and those trademark kicks and snares, Jay Dee had officially arrived.
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The Fab 5 (Originoo Gunn Clappaz & Heltah Skeltah), Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka – During Bucktown natives The Boot Camp Clik’s first renaissance in the nineties, two factions of the crew formed this super group. With the accompanying comedy-meets-hardcore video, Ruck, Rock, Starang Wondah, Top Dog and Louisville Sluggah each took turns ripping the beat to shreds.
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Kardinal Offishall, Ol’ Time Killin – Everyone should be aware by now that hip-hop is a global phenomenon, where virtually every country adds their own flavor in the mix. Taking a trip to up North, here is T-Dot legend Kardinal Offishall and his crew, blending dancehall with boom-bap, creating a spitkicker’s wet dream. KRS-One would be proud.
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Ghostface Killah featuring Raekwon and Cappadonna, Daytona 500 – What do you get when you mix a RZA-concocted, sped-up sample of Bob James’ instant vintage Nautilus with one of the greatest tag teams of all time, a cheaply-made but highly inventive music video and Cappadonna on a good day? One of the hardest Wu-Tang cuts of all time.
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Rah Digga featuring Outsidaz, The Last Word – While most people recognize Rah Digga as the female weed carrier in Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad, she also happened to be the wife of underground madman Young Zee, as well as a card-carrying member of the way-too-many-people-for-their-own-good crew, Brick City’s revered Outsidaz. In her criminally overlooked debut album, she gets some of New Jersey’s finest to tear up this Nottz-produced, Aida-inspired banger. The best line? Az-Izz’s declaration to die balling like Hank Gathers. Classic.
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Nashawn featuring Nas, Level 7 (Take A Picture) – Despite the Little Homey’s inability to find suitable backup dancers (even Jay had Beanie Sigel, duke), this song from one of his many shitbag protégés is probably the only time I can tolerate one of these chumps on a track. Must be that breezy beat.
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Xzibit featuring Ras Kass and Saafir, 3 Card Molly – Before X’s affiliation with Aftermath Records and a way-past-its-prime show on MTV, he released two highly revered but commercially overlooked albums. Backed by a dark, brooding beat and plopping piano stabs – not to mention an Eminem-type remark about Christopher Reeves – 3 Card Molly is one of the hardest-hitting songs from the West.
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Camp Lo featuring Run of Run-DMC, Black Nostaljack AKA Come On (Kid Capri Mix Tape Remix) – Ten years ago, Camp Lo dropped Uptown Saturday Night, and dammit if I don’t blast Luchini like it came out yesterday. In this little-known remix (shouts to So Much Silence), the Lo< pulls the good reverend out of his mason jar, and plays verbal badminton over a interpolation of Run-DMC’sBeats To The Rhyme.
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The Diplomats, Real Ni**as – While most people refuse to say it, I’ve acknowledged my years-long fascination for the Dips, from the ruin that was Confessions Of Fire up to the point where they started letting that one-legged goon C-walk in their videos. While most of their hilariously politically incorrect psychobabble includes nothing of substance (Wanna hit it from the back, she agreed that I’m loony/Then proceeded to moon me/I’M GETTING’ MONEY NI**AS!!!), in their prime they had a knack for making catchy tunes. The intriguing part of this song is that it’s a “remake,” of sorts, of AZ’sMo Money Mo Murder (Homicide) duet with Nas, the same guy Jim Jones has threatened countless times to “smack his kufi off.”
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And there you have it; a small sample of the beats, rhymes and life that occupy my life on the daily. It’s sad how today’s rappers shun the shared shine for their own spotlight, usually failing horribly in the process. Perhaps eventually we’ll see a return to that group format, and hopefully some better music as well.
