Classic Hip Hop Year-By-Year: 1986-1995

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by kanno1ae, Mar 15, 2017.

  1. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    I like that idea! If you would like to spearhead putting them together, that would be great.
     
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  2. garrincha

    garrincha Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plymouth, UK
    consider it done, man
     
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  3. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    You definitely don't hear much about these guys, but I played the heck out of Ain't A Damn Thing Changed on cassette back in the day. I finally bought a CD copy a few years back, and it was cool hearing it again. Perhaps nothing in their catalog can be considered a masterpiece, but their first two albums are definitely worth picking up or streaming (if available).

    A question for everyone: What other albums/groups from 1991 do you think are underrated?
     
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  4. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    That first verse still slays to this day. My god. Don't even need to hear it, it's just burned into my mind.
     
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  5. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Definitely a classic! Sadly, the remixes all sucked, IMO :cry:
     
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  6. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    According to Billboard, these were the Top Rap Singles of the year, as printed in the Year In Music issue from December 21, 1991.

    1. Treat 'Em Right - Chubb Rock
    2. Around The Way Girl - LL Cool J
    3. I'll Do 4 U - Father MC
    4. Looking At The Front Door - Main Source
    5. OPP - Naughty By Nature
    6. Mind Playing Tricks On Me - Geto Boys
    7. Gold Digger - EPMD
    8. You Can't Play With My Yo-Y0 - Yo-Yo feat. Ice Cube
    9. Stompin' To Tha '90s - Yo-Yo
    10. Daddy's Little Girl - Nikki D
    11. The Chubbster - Chubb Rock
    12. F-ck Compton - Tim Dog
    13. I Got To Have It - Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs
    14. Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J
    15. Born And Raised In Compton - DJ Quik
    16. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
    17. The Ghetto - Too Short
    18. Homey Don't Play Dat - Terminator X
    19. Your Mom's In My Business - K-Solo
    20. Growin' Up In The Hood - Compton's Most Wanted
    21. Rise 'N' Shine - Kool Moe Dee feat. KRS-One & Chuck D
    22. The House The Dog Built - Jibri Wise One
    23. Pop Goes The Weasel - 3rd Bass
    24. Monie In The Middle - Monie Love
    25. New Jack Hustler - Ice-T
    26. Cause I Can Do It Right - Big Daddy Kane
    27. Rampage - EPMD feat. LL Cool J
    28. B-tch Betta Have My Money - AMG
    29. Mind Blowin' - The D.O.C.
    30. Melt In Your Mouth - Candyman
     
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  7. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Six years before Will Smith sampled "He's The Greatest Dancer," there was THIS remix:


    "It's A Shame" by Monie Love (Cool As Mix/Edit)

    The Spinners sample in the original version is excellent, but the "Cool As..." remix is one of the greatest remixes that came out in 1991.
     
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  8. Mikey679

    Mikey679 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    [​IMG]
    Damn, 1991 is filled with great albums, I keep looking through and finding gems. I think this flew under the radar but I played the hell out of it back in the day.
     
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  9. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Admittedly, this was kind of a corny song, but I grew up in Michigan, so it was always included on my 1991 mix tapes!


    "The Devil Came Up To Michigan" by KMC Kru (#46 Billboard Hot 100)

    The video plays the House Mix, which was not as good as the original.
     
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  10. Mikey679

    Mikey679 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    [​IMG]
    I love that BDP put out a live album, KRS controls the crowds and showed that there was a growing fan base that stretched across the pond to Europe.
     
  11. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    I've never smoked, and I didn't really get into Cypress Hill very heavily. But their debut album smokes (pun intended).

    [​IMG]

    If you haven't heard this one from start-to-finish, I highly recommend it. Every track is dense with layered (and unusual) samples, and their lyrics cover more topics than just weed. Their sound was pretty original when this dropped in August of 1991. I can't think of anyone else who was sampling Gene Chandler's "Duke Of Earl" or quoting "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies.


    "How I Could Just Kill A Man"

    Here's a nice interview article that talks about the making of a handful of the songs:
    20 Years Later: B-Real & Sen Dog Talk Cypress Hill's 1991 Debut"How I Could Just Kill a Man"

    "[The little 'All I wanted was a Pepsi!' vocal sample at the end] was off a Suicidal Tendencies record. We didn't end up sampling the record. What we did was we had one of our boy, Dante Areola, who actually created the logo for Cypress Hill, say it at the end so we didn't have to deal with sample clearance." - B Real
     
  12. Mikey679

    Mikey679 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    Great album, I have the standard release on LP and also the radio edit promo on LP. B-Real and Sen Dog actually re-recorded their vocals for the radio edit promo, instead of just editing out the curse words. It's actually a pretty good listen especially since I've been so used to listening to the original uncensored version for all these years.
     
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  13. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    I can't believe I didn't realize there was a full-length clean promo LP! I've heard the re-recorded tracks that were issued on the promo and stock 12" singles. Is every song re-recorded? For instance, the 12" promo of "Latin Lingo" has the questionable words reversed--no re-recorded lyrics. The US promo CD single of "Latin Lingo" doesn't even go that far. It has the dirty versions of both the LP and Prince Paul mixes. Seems that they would've issued the re-recording of that one if they had taken the time to re-cut them. For that matter, I'm surprised they never issued a promo clean CD or a commercial edited version for Walmart, especially knowing that it *was* issued on a promo LP.
     
  14. Mikey679

    Mikey679 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    As far as I can tell, most of the lyrics were re-recorded, there's a few songs like "Hand On The Pump" where it sounds like they re-recorded certain verses or parts of the chorus and other songs like "Pigs" and "How I Could Just Kill A Man" where it was completely re-recorded. I'll try to post some samples later on here. Also, the track listing is a little different, here is the Discogs page link: Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
     
  15. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    "Hand On The Pump" is the same way on the commercial CD single. The Radio Edit has the original first verse, but re-recorded second verse. Part of the chorus is also re-recorded. What's interesting about this song on the clean Greatest Hits is that they used a fully re-recorded version, which is the only place I've heard it that way.
     
  16. Mikey679

    Mikey679 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
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  17. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
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  18. Mikey679

    Mikey679 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    I didn't even realize when I bought it that there was an edited radio promo, I just figured it was the standard uncensored release. It was a pleasant surprise to hear the album in a different way than from what I've known all these years.
     
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  19. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Now I'm going to have to track down a copy!
     
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  20. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
  21. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    As gangsta rap albums go, Death Certificate must rank toward the top when it comes to the number of potential people who would be offended by the content. Had my mom ever found and previewed the cassette I had when I was 13, she would've been mortified. Cube seems to let loose on just about everyone--white people, black people, politicians, Koreans, Rodney King, MC Hammer, Eazy/Dre/Ren, Catholics, women, you name it! The album was so controversial that the state of Oregon banned not only the album cover but all images of Ice Cube from being displayed in any retail shop. Island Records in the UK also deleted the songs "No Vaseline" and "Black Korea" from the track list before releasing it, although I believe those tracks have been restored to reissue copies.

    But despite how offensive the album is, it's Ice Cube's magnum opus--a stone cold masterpiece. The production, handled by Ice Cube, Sir Jinx, and the Boogiemen, slays as much as the lyrics do. Sampling old funk records was not a new thing in 1991, but they took it to the next level. The only other album I can think of that compares in production is the rival NWA album Niggaz4life that came out five months earlier. The album also flows very well from track-to-track. The skits and interludes strategically placed throughout actually add to the overall album. Death Certificate simply would not have been the same if "Look Who's Burning" was missing the clinic waiting room intro or if "Steady Mobbin'" didn't have the police beat down skit at the beginning.

    Rolling Stone ran a recent interview that it is a short but good read: Ice Cube on New Songs for 'Death Certificate' Reissue, 'Selfish' Trump . The interview is in conjunction with the 25th (26th?) anniversary reissue that came out in June of this year. Side note: The reissue adds three new songs to the beginning, which sound absolutely nothing like the rest of the album. I don't understand the logic behind that decision, but maybe they had nothing else in the vaults to offer.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2017
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  22. garrincha

    garrincha Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plymouth, UK
    alright guys - here is a shell, a husk, of playlist for the best tracks of 1986. I'm really stacked atm so I'll add some more gems as and when I get the chance, although I must confess...my knowledge of 1986 ain't all that. was just a pup in 86!

    86- The Golden Age of Hip Hop, a playlist by silkyskillz on Spotify

    collaborative, so please hop on board

    I'll do some more years over the weekend, when I have more time
     
  23. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Taking a brief pause from 1991, I'd like to mention the recent expanded edition double CD set of He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper, which I worked on with Real Gone Music.
    DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper

    [​IMG]

    I wrote the liner notes and have a couple credits listed under the reissue section in the booklet. This is the first and only digital release to include the full, unabridged album, and it also adds all of the tracks from the 12" singles released from the album. I was very pumped we were able to get this released.
     
  24. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Out of curiosity, how many tracks should I currently see in the playlist? I'm wondering if licensing issues between the US and UK (and other countries) might mean that many of our selections won't show up between countries. I'm not certain how that works on Spotify.
     
  25. garrincha

    garrincha Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plymouth, UK
    there is one solitary track in there man, just to get the ball rolling!

    I've collaborated on playlists with folk from across the pond before and never had any issues with missing tracks, as far as I can tell
     
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