This song, and several others posted in this thread are why there needs to be a "love" button cuz "like" doesn't do it justice
Yes!!!! The promo CD single is one of the holy grails in my collection. This is possibly my favorite track from 1993.
The soundtrack for the forgotten comedy movie 'Who's the Man' featured the debut of a young rapper known as BIG at the time:
Not heard often, but the original version of "Player's Ball" is subtitled "(On Christmas Day)" and found on the LaFace Family Christmas compilation. There are several places on the Southernplayalistic album version that sound censored, but they are edits to remove the Christmas references in the verses. (The chorus was re-sung to change "on Christmas Day" to "all day e'ry day.")
Remember when Shaq tried his hand at hip hop? He actually got Ali Shaheed to produce some tracks and Phife to do a verse and even Erick Sermon produced a few tracks as well, probably the most famous track, though features the Fu-Schnickens:
Heck yes! There are several more dope tracks on Here Come The Lords, including the title track and "Funky Child."
Even if Shaq's rapping wasn't as good as his peers, there are some well produced tracks on the album. The singles are actually quite good: "I Know I Got Skillz" and "I'm Outstanding." I'm pretty sure both of them went top 10 on the rap chart.
I should know this, but what's the earliest appearance for Biggie on wax? The "Real Love" remix was out in mid-1992, but was there an earlier recording?
It was pretty big at the time, I picked it up after it came out. It wasn't a huge favorite of mine, more of a novelty but he certainly had some good production and had enough talent to make something listenable. Not a bad first impression.
The rappin' doesn't come in until later in the song, but for me rap is usually best when mixed with melody.
Another one from 1993 that I listened to on a loop. "Down With The King" featuring Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, great track!
Again melody, and that vocal kills, I couldn't not notice it back in the day. I make no arguments with real rap fans, I claim little credibility on the subject, but the good stuff is undeniable. I have a list of humorous songs I may add later that I appreciate. I also value the social messages in much rap, but I'm sure a little humor helped in tumultuous times in hoods.
I think this is a worthy follow up to the "Mama Said Knock You Out" album. Maybe not the same level of commercial appeal but LL showed he still had his fastball with tracks like "How I'm Comin', "Buckin Em Down", "All We Got Left Is The Beat" and "Ain't No Stoppin' This"
Mama Said Knock You Out is still my favorite LL album, but I definitely played 14 Shots quite a bit back then. "How I'm Comin'" tries hard to be as bad-ass as "Mama Said..." but lyrically sounds a little forced in places. "Back Seat" has LL's signature smooth flow, but it's not as catchy or memorable as "Around The Way Girl." It seems like he was really trying to replicate the magic of Mama Said but it falls a little short. Still, it's a good listen.
Pete Rock was on fire in '92 & '93! I really wanted to love the entire Down With The King album and was hoping the rest would be as good as the single. While they do have a couple masterpieces in their catalog, the album of theirs that stands high above the rest IMO is 1991's Together Forever: Greatest Hits.
Great track! I always wondered if Heavy D's "Who's The Man" was intended for the movie and soundtrack, as he was on Uptown/MCA and so was the soundtrack. Instead, House Of Pain is included with a song by the same name but not nearly as good. Heavy D's version is great!