One of the earliest examples of speed rap, from innovators The Treacherous Three. Member Kool Moe Dee went on to have a solid solo career, including a well-publicized beef with LL Cool J.
One of the earliest examples of speed rap, from innovators The Treacherous Three. Member Kool Moe Dee went on to have a solid solo career, including a well-publicized beef with LL Cool J.
Bahamadia – Three the Hard Way (1996)
By Mickey Hess
Although best known today as one of the fiercest emcees to pick up a mic, Bahamadia began her career as a DJ. She talked with me about growing up alongside hip hop in Philly: “I started out as a DJ in a crew called West Philly Sound Crew, then I started writing poetry. I did the DJ thing for awhile, then morphed into a poet writing for some of the emcees in West Philly Sound Crew, then from there I got my first experience in a production company, as far as studio work, with a production company called Bird’s Nest Production who also had Boys II Men and a few other people. Boys II Men and I were under the same production team at one point. I honed my recording skills and studio knowledge there for five years.” According to DJ Evil Dee of Brooklyn groups Black Moon and Da Beatminerz, who produced tracks on Bahamadia’s 1994 debut album, Kollage, Bahamadia’s time spent behind the mixing board is evident in the way she works in the studio. In an interview conducted on October 15, 2008, Evil Dee told me:
Bahamadia is the only MC I ever worked with that challenged me. I sat down with her in the studio and she was like, [whispers] “Yo, that snare is not the same snare,” or “I need this to go here.” She’s one of those people who really analyzes her stuff. I was making an interlude, and she was like, [whispers] “Ok, but the way you truncated that snare … was a little fucked up.”
Bahamadia’s stint at Bird’s Nest Production in Philadelphia gave her the knowledge she needed to oversee the production work for her own records. All the time, though, she was perfecting her rhyme skills and making connections in the Philly music scene: “Then I met up with DJ Ran, who was a popular DJ in the 80s and 90s for Power 99 radio station. I auditioned for him over the phone, freestyled for him over the phone, then wound up doing a stint with his production company 7th and Mitchell productions, produced my first single which was called “Funk Vibe” which was a regional hit — that was around 93. From there Guru from Gang Starr heard the single and offered me a production deal with his Illkid Records, and that led to me recording “Total Wreck,” my first national single, and then that led to Kollage, which was my first LP. From there it kind of just evolved into a career.”
Bahamadia’s witty rhymes and nonstop, staccato delivery soon made her a favorite both locally and internationally. By 1993-94, Gang Starr was a heavy hitter in the Brooklyn scene, and DJ Premier was becoming one of the most sought-after producers in hip hop, working with Notorious B.I.G., Jeru tha Damaja, and other major artists. Guru produced Bahamadia’s breakout hit, 1994’s “Total Wreck,” and DJ Premier produced her posse cut, “Three the Hard Way,” featuring K-Swift and Mecca Star. “No females had ever done a female posse cut at that time,” Bahamadia told me, reminiscing about an era in which rap artists often recorded posse cuts to showcase other members of their crews. “It was corporate, because the major labels had a part in hip hop at that particular time, but the whole cultural aspect as far as the communal part of it hadn’t been tainted yet, so it was just about each one help one.”
Ol Dirty Bastard “Brooklyn Zoo” (1994)
“The impression I think so many people have of Dirty is that he was crazy and couldn’t be controlled. You never knew what he was gonna pop up and do next. What people need to understand is that hip hop is a form of creativity. Hip hop shouldn’t be controlled. It should flow out of you in whatever form it comes out. That’s how Dirty approached it. He invented his own style of hip hop. Unique – that’s what he called himself. And that’s how the Wu-Tang Clan gave him the name that would make him famous. Method Man said it on their first album: “There ain’t no father to his style, and that’s why he’s the Ol’ Dirty Bastard.” — Buddha Monk, as told to Mickey Hess
“He perfected his unorthodox delivery- an erratic half-rapped, half-sung, mumble. “ODB, you can’t tell where his rapping stops and his singing begins,” RZA writes. – Matt Cohen, Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide
Tupac “Holler if You Hear Me” (1993)
“Tupac’s start in the music industry came from his association with the music group, Digital Underground (DU). DU was one of the eccentric hip-hop acts of the early 90s. The group, which consisted of main members Shock-G, MC Humpty Hump, Money-B and D.J. Fuze, also included a bizarre host of revolving group members such as D.J DOT, Esenchill, Dungeon Squad, Saafir, and Big Money Otis. The group’s sound blended samples of Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, and Jimmy Hendrix to create classic singles such as “The Humpty Dance,” and “Doowutchyalike!” that were included on the 1989 Grammy nominated album, “Sex Packets.” These “Sons of the P,” who were the inheritors of the P-Funk tradition, scored a huge hit with their next album entitled This is an E.P. Release. The album included the 1991 hit “Same Song;” it was this song that introduced the world to dancer/roadie Tupac Shakur.” — Carlos Morrison
Del tha Funky Homosapien — Catch a Bad One (1993)
Del and Hieroglyphics
“Formed by Del tha Funkée (or Funky) Homosapien—a cousin of legendary L.A. rapper Ice Cube with a notably less gangsta name—Hiero has built a devoted fan base on the foundation of intelligent, well-crafted lyrics and jazz-infused production. Maybe it’s not surprising, given the track record of Oakland rap, that Hieroglyphics grew out of a group of major label rejects.
“As for Del himself, his career got off to an auspicious start: few young rappers can boast that their debut album was produced by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh. But being Cube’s cousin didn’t hurt things, and album sales were no doubt bolstered by this family relation. While Del would later regret the production style of his Elektra debut I Wish My Brother George Was Here, it reflected in many ways the deep funk influence prevalent in Oakland rap (this despite the fact that it was produced by non-Oaklanders Ice Cube and DJ Pooh, also serious funkophiles). It was no mere coincidence that Del’s name included the adjective “funky.” The album’s title—while directly a reference to an obscure Bugs Bunny cartoon—is more directly a reference to George Clinton, and Del would later claim that “George Clinton is probably my biggest influence” (Ma). Indeed, My Brother George could be described as a cleaner and more straightforward version of the upbeat, funk-driven Digital Underground blueprint. And like DU, Del’s first album drew heavily on Parliament and Funkadelic, sampling them no less than eight times. In fact, the track “Dr. Bombay” is an homage to the art of sampling the P-Funk, in which Del even adopts his own funkadelic moniker: “The Motorbooty make you shake your rump to the brand new D-Funk.” To the question, “Where’d you get your funk from?” Del replies: “From a brother named George and some 151’s.” But like Shock G, Del’s appreciation for the P-Funk is closely associated with his appreciation for Blackness, and the second subject of the song is Black women, a subject to which he devotes an entire track (“Dark Skin Girls”).
“From the first bar, Del’s 1993 sophomore effort No Need For Alarm was a clear departure from the funky sound of My Brother George. Dark, jazzy, and noticeably slower in tempo (in some ways suggestive of DJ Shadow’s later groundbreaking work), the album reflected some clear changes to Del’s production team. Del’s disappointment with cousin Cube’s production on My Brother George had led the two to part ways (although Cube’s voice is sampled into the first track of No Need), and many of the tracks on the later album would be produced by Del himself. Working with his own tracks, Del’s trademark unstable, jittery, up-and-down flow—foreshadowed on “Dark Skin Girls”—finally let loose. This stark sonic transformation—in which the P-Funk was largely replaced by jazz samples drawn from Herbie Hancock among others—would be paralleled by Del’s content: the mild Afrocentrism of “Dark Skin Girls” was replaced by smashing “Wack MCs.” In retrospect, Del sees the album as having been a series of “really foul” battle raps (Keast).
“After No Need for Alarm saw poor sales, Elektra had had enough of this quirky and creative (but evidently not entirely marketable) rapper, and Del was dropped from the label only a month before the release of his 1998 Future Development (to add insult to injury, Elektra would later release Del’s greatest hits without the rapper’s permission). Del’s trademark sound has been described as a “marketing director’s nightmare… Too many piercings to be labeled hardcore, too many drug references to fit the conscious rap gimmick, too much Northern Cali slang for New York or LA listeners” (Keast).
“It was between Del’s first two albums that Hiero crew Souls of Mischief dropped their first album 93 Til Infinity, on a major label deal with Jive. Made up of Tajai, Opio, A-Plus, and Phesto, Souls of Mischief were—alongside Del—stretching Oakland’s funk-laced rap sound to accommodate their stylistic creativity. That the Souls’ transition paralleled Del’s own is no coincidence: Del produced three of the album’s tracks, with fellow Hieroglyphics crew members Domino and Casual contributing others. Hence the “Hiero sound” was born: centered on a live bass line, 93 ‘til Infinity privileged jazz samples and rapid lyrics over a laid-back track. Despite the commercial success of 93 ‘til Infinity, and despite the significant sales notched by their 1995 follow-up No Man’s Land, the Souls were also dropped by Jive. This forcible exodus from the mainstream—from Souls to Del to Casual and other Hiero members—was no doubt caused by broader developments in rap: the dominance of L.A. gangsta rap left little room for alternative and competing sounds, whether they be from Digital Underground, Too $hort, or Hiero. Del and company decided to regroup and move forward, founding Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings in 1995. Many of those involved in Hiero had known each other since childhood. As Casual, who had also been dropped by Jive Records after his 1994 debut, would put it later:
It came about from us getting dropped from major labels, and instead of folding and succumbing to defeat, we hit the ground running. We took what we had and we ran with it, we landscaped and we built something. We had to be resourceful, creative, and clever to gain our niche but now… it’s been ten years since we’ve busted out independent.
“The collective enterprise dropped their first album in 1998, and it was an instant classic. Or at least that’s how it seemed from a distance: up close, Hieroglyphics were grinding like Too $hort, but ten years later and with a different medium. A major part of Hiero’s “niche” was the Internet, as Casual explains: “We were one of the first groups to gain venue from the Internet. Period… we had to find creative ways to help build our company. We found our niche and now we got a catalogue of like 30, 31 albums strong” (Rodriguez).” — George Ciccariello-Maher and Jeff St. Andrews, Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide
Notorious BIG – Juicy (1994)
B.I.G’s first album Ready to Die was released in September 1994. In order to fully understand the impact and significance of this momentous debut we must also understand the state of Hip-hop at this time. Two years earlier Dr. Dre had released The Chronic. This multi-platinum g-funk inspired West Coast gangsta rap record crystallized the dominance of West Coast artists on the international rap landscape. New York City, the birth place and mecca of Hip-hop culture hadn’t produced a multi-platinum star in years. West Coast styled gangsta rap dominated the culture and industries of Hip-hop. “The final testament to the power of Biggie is the types of songs he made. He single-handedly shifted the musical dominance back to the East Coast. From 1991 to 1994, the West Coast style of rap was the dominant force in Hip-hop. Biggie, with the guidance of Puffy, used familiar melodic R&B loops, combined with his voice texture and rhyme skills, and caused a Hip-hop paradigm shift” (Dee 264). In many ways, the New York/East Coast audiences were given to the belief that the center of the hip-hop universe had shifted to Los Angeles. But “in just a few short years the Notorious B.I.G. went from Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop …” (Huey 359).
There were several hit singles released from the album: “Juicy,” “Big Poppa,” and “One More Chance.” Each of these tremendously successful singles employed similar formulas by Sean “Puffy/Diddy” Combs and the Bad Boy production team. “Juicy” interpolates Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit” to perfection with a rap narrative that chronicles a Horatio Alger-like come-up from the grimy streets of Brooklyn to ghetto superstar status as a rapper. So many of the lyrics from this song have gone on to an unofficial lyrical hall of fame, but at least the following line warrants repeating here: “You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far.” This line captures definitive aspects of B.I.G’s lyrical appeal; a simple rhyme scheme betrays the complexity of the content. While “Juicy” is about B.I.G’s unlikely rise to popularity he is also very much aware of the fact that hip-hop culture and rap music has by the early 90s stunned its critics and nay-sayers en route to becoming the world’s most popular music. In many ways, B.I.G’s career (big, black, ugly and utterly lovable) mirrors that of hip-hop in terms of early questions about viability and ultimately achieving rags-to-riches success. “Juicy” captures these themes perfectly.
The pre-production sessions for Biggie’s first album took place in that very same bedroom in which he first envisioned himself as an MC. In his tiny bedroom in his mother’s apartment, Big would sometimes have all of his boys jammed-packed in there for inspiration and general grimy creative energy. “The ‘One Room Shack’ that Biggie would later refer to in the song “Juicy” was Wallace’s bedroom – funky yellow walls, a bed, a chair, clothes and assorted junk all over the place, a TV with a VCR, and two big party-size speakers. It was in that room that Biggie Smalls, the rapper worked out his rhymes” (Coker 79). “ – James Peterson, Icons of Hip Hop
Masta Ace – Jeep Ass Nigga (1993)
By Thembisa S. Mshaka
Brooklyn-born hip-hop veteran Masta Ace (Duval Clear) has made a career of breaking new ground, keeping his focus on contributing to the evolution of hip-hop over commercial success. Ace has enjoyed chart appearances and moderate popularity, but has preferred to do so with his integrity and creativity intact.
In 1987, Ace was put on record by Marley Marl, the innovative producer for Cold Chillin’ Records’ roster and founding member of the Juice Crew. 21 and fresh out of college, Ace saw a flyer about rap contest at a skating rink, awarding studio time with Marley as first prize. Ace jumped at the chance. He tells the story vividly: “It was at United Skates of America in Queens. The first prize was six hours of studio time with Marley Marl. For Marley, I was ‘the guy who had to give these hours to’, and that took a year—but he was feelin’ me enough to have me come back, and eventually I ended up on his compilation album.”
That appearance on the now classic In Control, Vol. I led to Ace’s fortuitous cameo on a song that featured three other incredibly talented unknowns, Craig G, Kool G Rap, and Big Daddy Kane. The song was called “The Symphony.” Ace ended up filling in for The Juice Crew’s MC Shan. “Shan was supposed to be on there,” notes Ace, “but he felt he was playin’ himself by being on the song with a bunch of cats with no albums out. “The Symphony” crowned us The Juice Crew.” If Marley’s contest was the door that opened Masta Ace’s career, Shan’s ego blew the door off of it. Because Shan declined to drop a verse on “The Symphony,” Ace became part of the hardest crew of emcees in New York at the time, on a label packed with heavy hitters.
Ace was among the second generation of Cold Chillin’ stars along with Biz Markie, Kool G Rap, Granddaddy I.U., DJ Kid Capri, and The Genius (who later changed his name to GZA and formed Wu-Tang Clan). Ace collaborated with Cold Chillin’s First Lady Roxanne Shante’, writing three songs for her Bad Sista album.
Before it was popular for East Coast MCs to pay homage to or integrate West Coast production, Ace did both. Signing with West Coast-based label Delicious Vinyl, he released SlaughtaHouse in 1995, effectively unifying the sounds of each coast on one record. He achieved commercial success with his group Masta Ace Incorporated, whose album Sittin’ On Chrome generated standout hits “Born To Roll” and “The I.N.C. Ride”. Ace proved himself to be a progressive emcee amid many a misogynist. At the peak of gangsta rap’s woman-hating zenith, Ace went against the grain and opted to hand women the mic instead of degrading them with it by including Lashae and Paula Perry in the I.N.C. Over the course of his 15-year plus career, Ace has recorded 5 albums and continues to tour the world performing a wide-ranging repertoire of driving, thought-provoking songs.
Black Moon – Shit Iz Real (1993)
Beats: The Brooklyn Sound
“The Brooklyn Sound is the real grimy, throw your hood on type of records. There are records that have the Brooklyn sound that were not even made in Brooklyn. Like Brand Nubian’s “Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down” – that’s a Brooklyn anthem, and they’re not even from Brooklyn! But it became a Brooklyn record. Certain records, if it has that grime to it and that old … I just feel like pumpin’ weights to it, that’s a Brooklyn record.” — Mr. Walt of Da Beatminerz
“The world first heard Da Beatminerz’ dark, bass-heavy production on the 1992 single, “Who Got Da Props?”, from Evil Dee’s group Black Moon. The single was an underground sensation in New York City before it was included on Black Moon’s 1993 debut Enta da Stage, where each track was produced by Da Beatminerz. Walt and Evil Dee also produced the majority of Smif-N-Wessun’s 1995 album Dah Shinin’, several tracks from the collective Boot Camp Clik – which includes Black Moon and Smif N Wessun, along with Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C – and have recorded three Beatminerz albums, which include vocals from MCs ranging from Naughty by Nature to Dilated Peoples. DJ Evil Dee and Mr. Walt have become one of the most sought-after production teams in hip hop, and have produced songs for artists such as Bahamadia, Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s Black Star, Eminem, and the Roots.” – Mickey Hess, Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide
Wu Tang Clan – Protect Ya Neck (1993)
“The Wu-Tang Clan changed the way hip hop is made. From the way producers put tracks together, to the way MCs rhyme, all the way down to signing a contract with a record label. Wu-Tang was a group of nine generals, nine MCs who could stand on their own but drew power from the mighty collective. And when Wu-Tang signed to Loud/RCA in 1992, they negotiated an unprecedented deal – Wu-Tang Clan, as a group, would record for Loud, but each of the nine members were free to sign deals as solo artists with any record label they chose. Five years later, Wu-Tang Clan had released two group albums, and five of its nine members had solo deals: GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard were some of the biggest rap stars on the planet.
“Before Wu-Tang, when you signed to a label they owned you. If you wanted to go do a guest verse on somebody else’s song you had to run it past your label first, and recording for another label was out of the question. RZA and GZA had both been signed to solo deals before Wu-Tang, so they’d seen how the shit worked. Or didn’t work, actually. What Wu-Tang did was shift the power from the record label to the group. They were like a hip hop union or something. They were a collective. They had strength in numbers. They formed like Voltron, as Method Man said on the 36 Chambers album. They each had their role, and they could stand powerfully on their own, but when they come together to form Wu-Tang, watch out.
“But to make this kind of power move in the industry, what Wu-Tang had to do was build a buzz around their name. They paid their dues playing mad shows and selling LPs out the trunk. They put out their own 12” single, “Protect Ya Neck” on Wu-Tang Records, and that caught the attention of the major labels. GZA’s verse on that song even took a shot at the labels, like almost daring the labels to sign them, saying Wu-Tang was too good for the labels: “The Wu is too slammin for these Cold Killin’ labels/Some ain’t had hits since I seen Aunt Mabel….” RZA’s production sounded like nothing people had ever heard – it was gritty and sparse but at the same time it was layered like a symphony. He was amazing to watch in the studio, the way he worked at the boards. But off that first single, when DJs started to play it, what I remember hearing most was them cutting Dirty’s voice – “First things first, man, you fuckin with the worst” – playing his verse again and again.” – Buddha Monk, as told to Mickey Hess
Dr. Dre – Nuthin’ but a G Thang (1993)
Beats: The G-Funk Era
“If the funky breakbeats and dynamic syncopated rhythms of Dr. Dre’s production on the early NWA albums were somewhat similar to the sonic montage of Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, Efil4zaggin, the group’s last album, was heading in a different musical direction that would lead to the crafting of what is regarded as his signature sound. This sound, characterized by prominent bass lines, heavy keyboards and laid back melodies (as opposed to rapid prosaic breakbeats) was appreciably influenced by the Bay Area sound introduced by Digital Underground on Sex Packets (Tommy Boy/1990). These self-proclaimed Sons of The P had been among the firsts (with producer Teddy Riley) to amend P-Funk melodies composed by George Clinton’s musicians (Parliament, Funkadelic) with slow beats and prominent synthesizers to narrate their extravagant ghetto narratives. Their distinctive approach to rap music would be the foundation of Dr Dre’s G-funk, a conversion of Clinton’s P- funk into slow-rolling melodies that significantly depended on prominent bass lines, synthetic symphonies and the exaltation of a parochial gangsta lifestyle.
“This sound, though it was perceptible at times on Efil4zaggin (notably on “Alwayz into Somethin”) would ripen on Dr Dre’s Death Row productions. Though “Deep Cover,” with its prominent bass line resumed Efil4zaggin’s sinister atmosphere and minor sonorities, Dr Dre’s G-funk sound definitely matured on his first solo album, The Chronic. This album, which lyrically exalted a gangsta lifestyle epitomized by hedonistic party rhymes, firmly established Dr Dre’s musical interpolations of the 1970’s funk canon (“Atomic Dog” on “Knee Deep,” Donny Hattaway’s “Little Ghetto Boy” on the eponymous title, or Leon Haywood’s “I Wanna Do Something Freaky to You” on “Nuthin” But a G Thang”). The use of interpolation, a technique which consisted in playing on air in the studio instead of sampling it, significantly developed after several rap producers had to face numerous lawsuits about copyrights issues. Dr Dre, who admits never having been comfortable with the sampler, had started using this technique and collaborating with studio musicians on First Round Knock-Out (on “Cabbage Patch”).” — David Diallo, Icons of Hip Hop
Rhymes:
“Snoop Dogg’s flow, like Dr Dre’s signature sound, is distinctively recognizable. When Dr Dre invited him to feature on “Deep Cover” – Dre’s first solo single — the general rapping style was characterized by a fast and emphatic delivery that concentrated predominantly on the rhythm. On this track, Snoop Dogg introduced a distinctive languid flow which, with its musicality, differed somewhat from the paradigmatic vocals.”
— David Diallo, Icons of Hip Hop
