Why 1988 Still Feels Like Hip Hop’s Big Bang

One year can change a whole genre, and we think 1988 did exactly that. Shaun P joins me to debate one of hip hop’s biggest arguments: what is the best year in hip hop, and does 1996 really beat 1988 when you measure impact, innovation, and replay value?

We use 1996 in hip hop as context, running through a stack of classics and the complicated cultural backdrop of that era. Then we go all in on 1988: the debuts, the breakthroughs, and the albums that still teach lessons on flow, storytelling, politics, and pure fun. We talk Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton,” Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, MC Lyte, Boogie Down Productions, and more, plus how the business side and production choices shaped what the world heard.

But this is bigger than a list of records. We connect the music to the full 1988 cultural moment, including the fashion and the feeling, then pivot to how hip hop pushes into the mainstream through Yo! MTV Raps, Fab Five Freddy’s influence, and the hard truth about what it took for MTV to embrace Black artists. If you love rap history, golden age hip hop, and the stories behind why these classics still hit, you’ll leave with a sharper playlist and a stronger argument.

Subscribe for more deep dives, share this with a friend who still argues about 88 vs 96, and leave a rating or review with your pick: which year really wins, and what album makes your case?

Transcript

Welcome To The Disco Hicks Show

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Ladies and gentlemen, the coordinators. This is a discount extra. Cost of vibes crew music lovers, historians, and over each day, bringing you more than just a soundtrack of our lives. We're talking culture, stories, memories, and everything in the way from classic music to movies and television to the conversations with the classic clip on. So step back, turn it up and let the vibe take you there. Because here we believe in one thing. Always be you, share your gift, and keep those classics current. This is the Disco Hicks Show.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Disco Hicks Show, formally the music book podcast of dropping a needle on another episode. And today, doing some more music. Just love talking about music. And before I go on, I let my boy, you heard his name before, heard his voice before. What's up, Sean P?

SPEAKER_04 0:56

What's up, my brother? Back with another one.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Yeah, man. This is gonna be this is gonna be good talk. Because um, the subject we're gonna talk about the year, 1988 in hip hop. And um when you had these the discussions about what was the best year in hip hop, 88 always comes up in 90 in 96, always comes up, and so we're gonna shine a shine a little light and give our opinion which one we think is better. But uh the title of this podcast or this episode lets you know what I think. So but we're gonna go into some of the catalogs and some of the uh uh projects that came out each year, but we're mainly gonna focus on 88. But I want to touch on 96 right uh to show context. Okay,

Game Seven Talk And Pistons Pride

SPEAKER_01 1:43

okay. So uh hey man, before we get into to music talk, today is Saturday. Uh today's the 30th, right? May 30th. Yeah. Okay, and two words, the two best words in sports, game seven.

SPEAKER_04 2:01

Game seven tonight. Yeah, I think it's gonna be different than the game sevens that we have witnessed so far. Uh I think it's gonna be uh a war tonight uh between those two teams. I'm not I don't know who's gonna come out. I I know Wimby ready though. He's ready.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah, I um I'm gonna lean for I'm gonna lean toward uh experience because it seemed like I don't know if they have a switch, but it's seen OKC, it's like when they have to. And I and then you got the MVP on your team. I just can't I just can't see him allowing them to lose in game seven. But like you said, Wimby is ready, man.

SPEAKER_04 2:43

Yeah, he's ready. He's ready. You're you're right. I I think if those guys, if OKC comes out, and you're right, experience normally does win out in this situation. They come out and they don't play the flopping game, they just come out and play that game and and really uh focus in, they'll be good. They should they should walk away. But I think it's gonna be a tight one tonight.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, that'd be good to see.

SPEAKER_04 3:05

Uh yes, it would.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Like uh, I want to touch on our guy, our team. K Cunningham, first first team all NBA.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Jalen Duran, third team all NBA.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

Salute to him.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Um, Sarah Thompson, first team all defensive, all defense, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

The clamps.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yeah, man. Uh, and then JB second, which which I don't understand. He and every time they seemed like every time JB could have won, he could have won last year and this year, but it seemed like when their explanation, they always moved the goalposts. It was this reason why this coach won last year. And now this year, the reason you said that that coach won because and it's the same reason why JB should have won this year. It just it's I don't know, man. It just sometimes it seemed like Detroit events versus everybody.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

I don't know how to yes, sir. Yes, sir. I I um I was so disappointed that he didn't win. I didn't even look to see who won. Who won the coach of the year, man?

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Bro, your boy from um uh Boston. He ain't shooting. Oh, wow, get out of here. No, you know, you can talk about Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum didn't play all year. Nah, man. You could say the same thing about K Cunningham and they stayed first all year. He went down claps long.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

Um I I think those type of politics kill the it hurts the NBA.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

For real, yeah. And keep moving the goalposts, man.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

Yeah, absolutely. Thumbs down.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Yeah. Uh before we go, uh, one more

Debating Pistons Free Agent Targets

SPEAKER_01 4:46

thing, too. Uh before we shift gears. Okay. I saw a list this morning. Uh the top 10 un unrestricted free agents shooting guards for the piss for the Pistons. Have you seen this list?

SPEAKER_04 4:58

I believe so. I think uh I know one of our own uh players is on there. Herder is on there.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Uh so I'm gonna get 10. Uh CJ McCullum. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_04 5:10

Uh I love CJ.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yeah, uh, he probably his his uh asking price probably be too high.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Too high, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Uh Norman Powell is another one.

SPEAKER_04 5:19

Love Norman Powell. I think he is a perfect Detroit piston. He'd be a little cheaper than Powell. It kind of brings you the same thing. Maybe not so much on the defensive end, but definitely I think Detroit would be a great home for him.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Mm-hmm. And uh this one lend the list get a little shaky. Anthony Simons, you see, he can see he's bouncing around.

SPEAKER_04 5:42

Now, I'm not gonna lie to you. I like him over everyone, just for the simple fact. I was surprised he went to Boston and they had to come off of the bench. I'm not sure if if it's his confidence. That kid can play. He's young, he'd be great in this offense, too.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

He definitely could, he can get a bucket. I it must be something to it, man. The fact that they they gave up, uh Portland gave up on him, sent him over to Boston, and then he he came off the bench. And I think his defense is is really lacking. And um, man, what is what is the Boston's coach name, bro? I don't trust that kid's name.

SPEAKER_04 6:18

Uh I forget his name, but um uh but he you know he he's a he he's a very strong uh willed guy, man. He's like heavy off into um martial arts, different things like that.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

So Joe Mazzo.

SPEAKER_04 6:31

Joe Mazzula, that's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Joe Mazzula. So yeah, uh he Joe Mazzula, yeah. He he he benched, he benched, I guess. Oh, Anthony Simons. Uh Kevin Herter, as you mentioned, Luke Connard.

SPEAKER_04 6:46

No, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Okay, Tim Hardaway Jr.

SPEAKER_04 6:53

He had a good run here. Uh I'm he had a good run here. He definitely brings defense. It's just his offense is is very much up and down.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Mm-hmm. Yep. Uh I like Bruce Brown Jr. I see Bruce Brown Jr., I would love to see him come back. I agree. Uh that defense.

SPEAKER_04 7:11

That defense. Yeah, we talked about him on the piston podcast. Yeah, he'd be a great fit here, too.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah, tenacity. Uh Jordan Clark. I like Jordan Clarkson, but I don't know if he would fit. I don't know, but he can he can get a bucket. He would be nice uh addition coming off the bench for the right price.

SPEAKER_04 7:28

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Uh my T staibel. I man, he must have got lost in the sauce because I don't even hear his name anymore. Uh especially on defensive plays, I don't even hear his name anymore.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

Not anymore. And where is he at now?

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Portland.

SPEAKER_04 7:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

He got buried on the bench, I believe.

SPEAKER_04 7:47

Now you get buried on the bench in Portland. I don't know what you could do for us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

All right. Well big us to Scoot Henderson, man.

SPEAKER_04 7:58

Yes, turned it around, man.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Yeah, I got two pairs of shoes. Like, hey man, hey, I wear your shoes, man. Represent.

SPEAKER_04 8:07

What do you know? What what uh what brand is he representing? Oh, he's Puma.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Okay, he got some dope, man. Every time I wear his shoes, I get mad compliments. Okay, yeah. So he he got a nice, nice signature shoe. And the last name is Cam Thomas. When he got sent to um my uh Milwaukee, I thought he was gonna tear it up, but nah, then he ended up star right riding the pine too.

SPEAKER_04 8:32

Yeah, yeah. I out of that out of that list, uh the the I like the top three guys, um uh Powell, CJ, and Simons. Herter is a question mark. I I don't know. Maybe if we get a full year, I've seen him go to work, but maybe if we get a full year of him, he'd probably do a lot better. Um, but hey, I like those three. All of the other guys, I I'm pretty good on the rest of those guys.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

It depends if the Pistons are gonna stay over if they decide to go over the cap or stay under the cap. And so if they do go over, then they get that mid-level exception. And I think I don't know if any of these players uh would take that type of money. Yeah, maybe a maybe Bruce Brown. I don't know. Um, I don't know, man.

Why Athletes Earn Every Dollar

SPEAKER_04 9:23

I think you know though, I I love the atmosphere still. Um, I love the fact that they're still staying positive. I did see something where Dorn is considering taking that five-year 180 million, which would be a lot less than uh the max. You know, but if he did that, that would be great because that does give us the flexibility to really add some some really good pieces.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Man, thinking looking back, hindsight is 2020, man. But if they would have given him that extension last summer, we wouldn't even be going through this, yeah. Man, and that's that's a chance you take. He took a uh he gambled on himself and he made third team all NBA. And hey, man, he deserves his money. Give him the money.

SPEAKER_04 10:09

You know, I'm I'm I'm always a big component, man, of these guys getting their bread. Um, and I I just figure I I know we got salary caps and different things like that, but these guys, man, they work hard, even when they have to sit out for injuries, whether it's you know, nursing, you know, going through rehab to nurse back an injury or going through surgery or whatever. These guys, man, they deserve they deserve that money.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

People really don't understand what they're watching when you watch these athletes. I mean, the things that they do to their body all year around. Just I mean, I mean, they they operate in their gift, but they also entertaining you, yeah, and they just going hard and hard. And just like you see, like those uh basketball players, for example, uh, you take their shoes off, their feet look so mangled, bro. Like your body isn't meant to run that much all the time, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:07

You know, uh yeah, and these are large human beings that are putting extra wear and tear on on top of you know regular wear and tear.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

So yep. So big ups to those athletes and those people that uh put the time in and the effort to to make uh make their product look good and also to uh entertain us.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Absolutely.

CeeLo Love And Dungeon Family Memories

SPEAKER_01 11:29

All right, shifting gears, we're getting into the music. You know, I always like to say happy birthday. Today's the 30th, like I said. Happy birthday to CeeLo Green.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

Oh, that's my guy right there. Man, that's my guy.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

If you go listen to his music, he makes great music. I understand he got some all out of the studio stuff going on. I don't know what happened with that stuff. Uh okay, the essay stuff, the sexual assault stuff. I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but um, when I got introduced to CeeLo, it was through the outcast Southern Playalistic album. Man, my favorite song, Get Up and Get Out. Yeah, dude, that dude got on that mic. He's I think it was the um best verse. He in Andre 3000's verse in that song, because man, um when it when you talk about posse tracks, that track isn't isn't uh named, man. You you know, you hear about the symphony, uh buddy. Um I like uh I like uh Matt Cash Money and um Tear the Club Up Thugs. Yeah, I like that song, and there's some other uh other uh what what's the hook? What's the hook? Is that the hook?

SPEAKER_04 12:48

Um dang for uh well you you know I I took uh well for me, I know for me, one of my favorite songs uh by that guy is uh thought and thought process, the follow-up. I think that was on um the AT Aliens uh album. Um one of my lines where he'd be like, You might see your brother on TV, but hell, it's almost like I'm rapping for free. So uh what was the song though, bro?

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah, yeah, watch out for the hook, the dungeon family mix. Cool breeze, okay.

SPEAKER_04 13:24

Yeah, yeah, dungeon family. Man, those guys, man, they uh I'm gonna I'm gonna say it now. Well, yeah, we probably gotta do a a podcast on on those guys too, man. Uh they they they brought a a a different type of sound to the game during probably one of the most difficult times in hip hop to beat between east and west coast. So yeah, lots of love. I I I they are heavy in my rotation still, all of them outcast, um, goodie mob, the whole love them guys, man.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

All right, man. That's it. Um 1998. Yeah, happy birthday, guy. Uh 1988. So we got these before we go into

1996 Classics For Context

SPEAKER_01 14:11

88. Uh, they said 96. 96 was supposed to be the best. Bobani Jones actually covered this year. So 1996 and hip hop. And so I'm about to I'm gonna throw something that's out. Um uh man. Oh, yeah. Tupac, Tupac, all eyes on me, the Fuji's the score. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 14:34

No, I was gonna say be before you hit that. 96 was definitely that year was it was an incredible year, but it was a sad year as well. Uh, it was a year after the Million Mare March. Um, we were in the middle of the OJ trial. I don't know if we were in the middle of that or if it was the end of it, but we were going through the OJ trial. No, I think that was the end of it.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Yeah, it's the end of it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:59

Yeah, it was the end of it. But the after effects of that, because that kind of divided black and white America. Um, but yeah, Kobe was drafted in '96. Um, and yeah, Tupac he passed away in 1996. But yeah, that was it was some incredible uh hip hop. But go ahead, brother.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah, Buster Rhymes, the coming came out that year. Nonchalant. What was it? Six o'clock in the morning. Is that six o'clock in the morning? Yep. Doom, doom, uh Master Pete, Ice Cream Man came out. Ice Cream Man. Uh let's see. Was you in? Did you get into Selly Sale?

SPEAKER_04 15:42

I was, yeah, East Coast. I mean, West Coast, yeah. That's all uh Selly Cell and uh E40. Yeah, and uh that that was part of his clip, I believe. Selly cell cat. Heat for your a.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Uh see, uh man. See, look, I'm going down to these releases, and you know, they got some like digital underground future rhythm. That wasn't uh uh one of their big albums, Lost Boys, yeah, Legal Drug Money, Ice Teak, uh Return of the Real, Coogie Rap, uh rated Triple X, Crossroads, Bone Thugs, and Harmony came out that year.

SPEAKER_04 16:22

That was the year AT Aliens came out in '96.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Yep, yep. I was gonna get to uh Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt, the quiet city.

SPEAKER_04 16:31

His best album for all you Jay-Z fans. His best album was his first album, my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Yeah, yeah. Uh let's see, Crucial Conflict. Oh, the uh see Tribe Call Quest, oh yeah, Peak Rhymes in Life.

SPEAKER_04 16:55

Yeah, that was that was a a slept on album, but that album was really, really good, man. Really good. Um, what about stressed out was on the album.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Were you a fan of Silk? The Shaka.

SPEAKER_04 17:11

You know, I I didn't dislike uh Silk. Um by me being an artist too, like I I like when people come different. So he was he was a different artist. Um, and you know, his artwork, you know, it kind of speaks for it. So a lot of people hate on it, but I I'm not gonna hate on it. I was I was a fan of it. I was a fan of the tank, the tank dogs.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Mm-hmm. So yeah, uh MC Light had bad as I wanna be, 18 Aliens, as you mentioned. Uh man, even Houdini came out with that album six. I got it, and I was like, uh, you could tell JD did J Jermaine Dupree did every beat on there. It was kind of weird.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Okay. Uh let's see.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Um, but yeah, man, I'm saying that, and even though the West Side Connection, uh that was a dope album. PMD came out on Above the Law, E40, The Hall of Game was out that year. Ghostface, Killer, Iron Man.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

I man, listen, Iron Man is a classic Wu-Tang album. Next to the purple tape, it might be the best Wu-Tang album besides the group together, but like solo albums. Yeah, Iron Man, the Purple Tape, Raquan, only built for Cuba Links, and that album right there, classic album, bro.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Yeah, Little Kim Hardcore, The Dog Father, Foxy Brown, the L99.

SPEAKER_04 18:41

Yeah, yeah. The Dog Father wasn't that good to me. Shout out to Snoop them, but he had a couple tracks on there. My favorite track on there was The Gold Rush, uh, Bang and Beat. But yeah, that uh, but but I will say this though, Snoop, his his lyrics were on there. I just think the the beats on there weren't they weren't that good. And that was kind of after the Tupac aftermath. So that was that was it was kind of tough to follow up all of the tragedy that was going on with Death Row.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Yeah, and then you know he didn't have his boy, he didn't have his Quincy Jones with him, so yeah, absolutely. Uh man, Shaq can't man Shaq had a decent album. That uh Can You Stand the Rain?

SPEAKER_04 19:21

Can you stand the rain? Well uh Biggie was on that album. Was he on that track?

SPEAKER_01 19:24

He was on that track, he was on that track, and then um what's that uh that song? Uh that song he came up on the east side, um one on the west side.

SPEAKER_04 19:33

What is that uh I forget the name of it, but many straight straight straight playing.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Oh, dude. Yeah, yeah, that was like that's up. Um BG had Chopper City.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

I can only imagine it. I can only imagine uh how Shaq felt during that time to be one of the greatest athletes in the game. He was kind of a phenomenon, to be honest with you. Um not in the kind of he was a phenomenon, and to have a rap album, he definitely probably felt like he was on top of the world.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Oh man, yeah. Movies, he yes, yeah. I mean, he's an entertainer, bro. Absolutely, you know, he's an entertainer.

What 1988 Looked Like In Life

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Uh man, bro. So in 1988, we had um uh the number one song, the year, the year ending in 1988 was Faith by George Michael. George Michael, yeah, the highest grossing movie that year was Rain Man. Rain Man. What I like about 88, six months of 88, I was in my junior year, and then three months of it, um, three months of it, I was in my senior year. Okay, and I would say, you know, we we growing up in Easter and and going to Easter High, and we had these alumni picnics. One of the most together classes, and I'ma give a big ups to them and salute to the class of 88, man. 88, man. They're like a family, bro.

SPEAKER_04 21:02

Yes, they are. They they salute to man, they represent real tough. You right every year. I I will say they say 88 the greats, and they're not lying. I'm class of 91, but yeah, the big shout outs to the class of 88.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Yeah, man, whoo! 88. I'll give it up to 90. Your class as well, too. Uh um, yeah, but uh that 88, man. Every time you see them, when they online, man, yeah, they just give each other love like all the time. I mean, they just and they hang out all year round. They don't have to wait till alumni picnic to get it.

SPEAKER_04 21:34

Yeah, that's a different group, man. You're right. Like, I mean, and even when we were having, I don't know if it was last year or year before last, like their hangouts after the picnic was was big. I think they went on a cruise or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:49

Yeah, so those those guys, man, uh a great, great group right there.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Uh so yeah, they get to hit lift their head up and put their chest out. Man, Mike Tyson held the WBA and the WBC uh heavyweight championship during that year, man.

SPEAKER_04 22:07

He um he knocked out Larry Holmes that year. And I know that he he told Muhammad Ali that he was gonna get him back for what he did to Mohammed. I and I remember being a kid, it broke my heart to see uh Muhammad lose to Larry Holmes. So that was a that was like a good get back for Muhammad uh for Tyson to do that. He also knocked out Spinx that year, I think in that first round gross.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Larry Holmes, Tony Tubbs, and Spinx. He was a menace, man, with the black with the black shorts and the black shoes come in there with nothing, just in there, just focused on just knocking you out and just leaving.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

Absolutely. No, no robe, no antics, not nothing extra. Just serious, come in there, take care of business, talk his trash, and go on home.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Oh man, the number one show, the Cosby show. Oh estimated audience of 23 million viewers a night.

SPEAKER_04 23:09

I still to this day watch that show, man. Um it gave, like when I it's it's positive. I love everything about the show, even to this day, despite all of the things that Bill Cosby um has been through. Uh, even with losing rest in peace, Malcolm Jamal Warner, yeah, Alicia Rashad, still beautiful, all of the ladies. Uh, you know, there were sisters on there, all doing well. One of the greatest shows of all time, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yep. I agree. Uh, we saw the rise of Kevin Cost and Bruce Willis, uh, Roger Rabbit came out there. Eddie Murphy was in Coming to America. That movie is a classic.

SPEAKER_04 23:53

I just saw a video where that movie almost did not make it. There was so much turmoil behind the scenes um with that movie between Eddie Murphy and the director of the show that uh they almost it almost didn't come out. Um so there, I guess there were some issues being between him and the director who Eddie hired.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Yeah, John Landis.

SPEAKER_04 24:15

Yeah, yeah. Yep, who he hired. So they were kind of like with some racial tones there uh between those two guys. Um, but it got done. But I also seen where they told him that he had to put a white actor in the movie, or unless it wasn't gonna come out. And the I forget the white guy's name, but he was one of the employees at the restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Louis Anderson. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

So but it was also the first time that Eddie Murphy had played several different characters, him and Arsenio Hall. Yeah. Um the greatest, if not the greatest, one of the greatest movies of all time.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Footnote too, John Lannis uh directed the thriller video. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:00

So uh yeah, yeah, man. Incredible. He was going through a lot though. I believe that he had an issue or something happened in the um the Twilight Zone, where I believe like a few people had perished on a movie set, including that young girl, right? I believe.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Uh the young girl that was in the Porter Guys, I believe. Sh is that, yeah, I think it's that she died in that movie.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

So, yeah, it's a lot of stuff came out, Rayman, all the stuff like that. Um, also, now we're about to get into the

1988 Rap Debuts That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_01 25:32

music. 88 was big year for rap debuts, NWA straight out of Compton, Big Daddy Kang, Long Live Kang, EPMD, strictly business, slick rick. Yes, great adventures of Slick Rick, MC Light.

SPEAKER_04 25:47

That was my favorite album. My favorite album, 88. Yeah, the Slick Rick. I I think to this day, I I don't think there's a song that gets played more in hip hop anywhere than children's story.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Man, yeah, it'd be hard pressed to find one that is played more. Uh MC Light, light as rock, light as rock, easy does it, easy e uh JJ Fad was supersonic. Classic. Classic. Uh Kidding play too hype.

The Fashion And Feel Of 1988

SPEAKER_01 26:17

Yeah, um, do you remember what what do you when you think about ADA? What like far as the fashion? What do you think about?

SPEAKER_04 26:24

Man, Kangos, uh, the dookie ropes. I think about the uh uh Adidas, ballet shoes, uh sheepskins, you know, the uh bomber jackets, yeah. Um fashion, man.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

It was just like the bamboo earrings for the bamboo earrings, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

A lot of that that was was it it took us our fashion to uh it made us interested in be they created the designers that we end up having, the crow canine, cross colors, and a lot of um those things. Uh, but yeah, MCM, Gucci. Of course, I couldn't afford none of that stuff, but yeah, right. They used to have the knockoffs, and uh, you know, if it was really, really nice looking, you couldn't tell if it was a knockoff. I mean, of course, the experts could, but you know, uh, but yeah, you got high top fades, bro. Had one myself. I had one with a tail.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Yeah, they too when I first got hey, because this was funny. I I had the Jerry curl and uh through middle school. So when I got to high school, I think the first maybe the first couple of months, I'm like, man, this is this is played out this curl. I can't remember what barbershop, but it was on Inkster Row. I can't remember which one. And I knew what I wanted. I didn't, I didn't, we wasn't calling it a phase, so I didn't know what to call it. And they had a magazine in there. I remember seeing the picture of Grace Jones. I said, I want that haircut. Give me the Grace Jones, and yeah, so yeah, bro, that was it, man. The high tie fade. Even now can play, man. Kid was like, check out the fella with the high tie fade.

SPEAKER_04 28:08

Yeah, and that's I'm sorry, go ahead, bro.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

No, see, I had used that, I had a ran for I think I was running for homecoming king, and I used that line, you know, because I had I had the red hair, I had the red fade, and I check out uh if you want to if you want to have it made, vote for a fellow with the high top fade. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:30

So my freshman year on my freshman ID, I got a high top fade.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 28:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Let's see,

Pistons Versus Lakers And Old Wounds

SPEAKER_01 28:41

man.

SPEAKER_04 28:41

Um, okay, we about to uh Pistons lost to the Lakers in '88, too. Um yeah. And you know, I looked at the the box scores of the that series. Man, every game was close except for maybe like the Pistons won the first and they lost the next two. Um, but I didn't realize, man, you know what? That team, that piston team, bro, they had like seven players that were like 6'11 and taller. They had like four seven-footers. They had Chuck Nevitt at 7'5, Ron Moore 7 feet, Buddha Edwards at 7'1, and William Befford at 7 feet. Okay, they had Dawkins 6'11, Lambeer 6'11, Sally 6'11, and then Mahorn at 6'10. That was like half of the team was 6'11 and taller.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:39

And we lost the game that Isaiah dropped 43 points. I think we only lost by like one point to win that game. That's crazy. Game six. That's crazy. That's crazy. And then we lost game seven by three points.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

So I think I remember um Dennis Rodman taking a shot, the uh ill-advised shot, and he missed. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

I remember that it was something he had never done up to say, man, what are you doing, dog?

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Yeah, and he was my favorite. I mean, Zeke Zeke, but he was my favorite player, uh Robin at the time. Uh, but yeah, let's get back on this

The Albums That Crown 1988

SPEAKER_01 30:23

music.

SPEAKER_04 30:23

I I know the the number one album, and man, you know what? I've been reading this book, it's called A Big Payback. It's by this guy named Dan Charnis, and it it it dives deep into how hip hop started and everything. So I'm at the point of '88 where uh Public Enemy, it takes a nation of millions to hold us back. That was the number one album, hip-hop album in the show of '98. But you know what, man? Um, I was very surprised to see how much Rick Rubin had his hands in producing. Uh he produced them. Uh Public Enemy. Yeah. Uh, he had his hands heavy into uh into hip-hop uh in the 80s, especially in uh 88. But yeah, it takes nations to uh hold us back, millions to hold us back, uh, was the number one album. An album that I listened to over again that I didn't realize how good it was was he's the rapper and I'm the DJ with um Fresh Prince and um DJ Jazzy Jeff. They got a Grammy that year for that album, and they boycotted the Grammys. The famous boycott, yep. Yep, because they didn't show, I guess, their part of accepting the award.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

There's a famous picture too. You see it going around circulating. Will uh GJ Jazz Jeff Fresh Prince, uh Salt and Pepper. I think uh I believe Flavor Flav and and Chuck D. And maybe Ken play is in there, but it it's a famous fit uh picture that was going around, and I think that was taking the day of the boycott or something like that. All right, let's get into some man. And this is the reason why I say 88 is better than 96. We named some albums that came out in '96. And I was when I was going down and uh scrolling, I was skipping a lot of albums here on this one in '88. We got a lot of iconic uh hip hop artists that came out, had their debut albums this in '88, and that also had albums in also in '96. Okay. So that's what. Okay, so we got two short, life is too short. Life is too short, bro. I wore I wore that album out. That was my album when I went to college.

SPEAKER_04 32:38

Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

One thing you know about two short, he liked to cuss, but he had a he had a clean side and he had a dirty side, which I appreciated.

SPEAKER_04 32:46

Yeah. Um, thanks, short.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Yep. Snitch! You got the ghetto boys making trouble, making trouble. Uh Biz Markey going off.

SPEAKER_04 33:01

You mentioned um nobody beats the biz.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Rest in peace. Uh, you mentioned DJ Jazz Jeff Fresh Prince. He's the DJ I'm the rapper. I'm the rapper. Boogie Down Productions. By all means necessary.

SPEAKER_04 33:15

Classic album.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Oh man. Bro, come on. That was the sophomore album.

SPEAKER_04 33:22

Yeah. Quick side note, Larry Parker, KRS 1. Uh, mom kicked him out the house at like 13. Uh, at kid, he just roamed the streets for like 13 to 17 years old. He ended up at a like a boys' home or shelter or something like that. And that's where he met Scott LaRock.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Yeah, yeah. Man, my philosophy. My philosophy. That song is a song that started to like form my mind to want to be a vegetarian.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

Where he talks about no go or ham, no chicken or take your hamburger. Or hamburger. Yeah, to me. That's suicide, self-murder. Self-murder. Yeah. Woo! Man, still number one. Uh, Jimmy, part-time suckers.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

Part-time suckers. That was my joint.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Yeah. Man, what a good album.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

That's another classic. Very, very, very good album.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that album, man. Like I said, it uh definitely. Yeah, that stuck with me. That and um faces the death, man. Remember that movie Faces the Death? Do you read that?

SPEAKER_04 34:34

Having nightmares.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

Yeah, that that scene with the uh Slaughterhouse. That I was like, oh yeah, I can't I can't eat anymore at more tiles. Umc light light as a rock. Uh that that was the first uh female rapper that I uh music that I owned. I wouldn't bought that album. Uh yeah, Paper Thin on there, 10% disc is on there. Yeah, so she was going, man.

SPEAKER_04 35:03

I believe she was the first solo artist of that time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

And a male dominated um genre. Yeah, absolutely. Color soundtrack came out that year. Come on, bro. Ice T was like colors, colors. Yeah, facts. Um, run DMC Tough and Leather. That's when they started to they were they were at they were coming down from their peak.

SPEAKER_04 35:30

Yeah. They were dealing with a lot of um a lot of contractual uh issues, and and again with the book, The Big Payback, it speaks a lot about man, them guys basically, you know, they were getting crumbs uh compared to the money that they were making, and like the executives and everybody above them were getting. So yeah, that's why they kind of had uh uh those gaps in between their success.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

And the game changed, man. Once Rakim came in there and introduced people to a different flow, it was like, oh snap, man. We didn't gotta rap like Curtis Blow no more. These are the brains, like man, this dude is on a different level, yeah. He raised the bar. So uh Dougie Fresh and Gift Fresh Shoot came out. The world's greatest entertainer. That song, I mean that album had uh Ain't No Half Stepping, Rising to the Top. Yeah, keep on rising, School E D came out, Smoke Some Kill, yeah. EPMD strictly business.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

That album was classic.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Come on, man. I just remember like hearing all those samples, like man, and they produced that album.

SPEAKER_04 36:49

They're they're one of the ones out of everybody we done named that self-produced their album.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Uh Stats of Sonic in Full Gear, uh Big Daddy Kane, Long Live Kane.

SPEAKER_04 37:00

Yeah. Uh talking all that jazz.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Long live the Kane. Let's let's visit that real quick. Because he was another one that had that flow, man.

SPEAKER_04 37:10

It's like most you know what off that album. Um I had noticed a lot of his songs was like four and a half minutes long, which was you know, they started trimming the songs down back then because you figure the Sugar Hill gang as a 15-minute track almost. Uh, but one of the coldest um tracks on that Long Live the Kang was uh You Got Me Waiting. It's like a slow love. And that's that song to this day, it's still banging the beat and everything.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Dude, he uh he released four singles in '88. Raw. Ain't no half stepping.

SPEAKER_04 37:49

Ain't no half stepping, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Set it off and I'll take you there.

SPEAKER_04 37:52

I'll take you there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

Yeah, that uh ain't no half stepping. What's that what's that deal, man?

SPEAKER_04 37:59

Now you know what album um that I didn't I didn't really get into, but it was ranked in the top 10 was the ultra magnetic MC. I'm gonna have to go back and really kind of listen to that. I listened to a few songs, but I I wasn't into it back then. I don't know how uh that slipped past me. Audio too, audio too.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

It's chilling, I am chilling, yeah. Milk. Um yeah, you said public enemy, it takes a million. Let's let's visit that one real quick. Uh, what was the singles released? Rebel with all the paws, bring the noise, yes, don't believe the hype, don't believe, don't believe the hype. Night of Living Bass Heads. I'm laughing, I'm laughing. Yeah, Black Steel and the Hour of Chaos. That's my favorite song by them.

SPEAKER_04 39:02

Yeah. You know what? Uh, big shout outs to Chuck D man. He was straight up like flavor is my guy. No, uh you know, they didn't want they didn't want to sign him. Uh they thought that you know he was a clown show, but Chuck was like, Nope, that's my dude. So wherever he goes I go. So he he held flavor down for a long time. Flavor, another one, like like Karis one. Flavor been through a lot, went through a lot, man.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

Most definitely. Uh man, the fat boys even had one now coming back coming back hard again. Man, what was Lady City? Let me visit this one real quick because uh oh yeah, they had the twist of there. They definitely was tripping on this one, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:55

Louie Louie, yeah, they were they commercial, they went commercial on that one.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Big time, yeah. They got they got drunk off the success of Wipeout, and it was they they were done after that.

SPEAKER_04 40:08

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Uh MC Shidey, did you like Shidey? Coming correct in 88.

SPEAKER_04 40:17

He had the one track. Oh my goodness, what was the name of that track? It was a it was a classic though.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Um he um um on that album because he had oh shake it was on there.

SPEAKER_04 40:32

Shake it, shake, shake it, come on. Yeah, he sure did.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

But it seemed like that song. I seem like I heard that song more so in the 90s than I did remember at that time, but I guess it's it it was on that album, bro.

SPEAKER_04 40:44

Yeah, it it had you you figure we were heavy into dancing then, so it it lasted a long time.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Yeah, okay. The album that I was thinking was came out in '87.

SPEAKER_04 40:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Um, because on the front of it, he got on a uh Adidas suit, like a classic car. He got on shell toes, and he got his hat to the back. And I remember Dre Hardy had that uh Elite 250. And uh he used to big ups to him. He would ride down the street and he would play one of those songs, man. It had uh sample. What you feel?

SPEAKER_03 41:21

Yeah, got to be real.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Uh, whatever song he he sampled got to be real, but uh Dre Hardy will come down the street just blasting that boy on his elite 250.

SPEAKER_04 41:32

Man, my cousin, I got a cousin, John Smith. He was uh all of that. He had the elite, he was a part of a crew called the Elite Crew. Um and them guys, man, they had the Adidas suits, they had the gold, the the big old Dookie Chains, the Max Julians, the Nanny Goats. Uh, but yeah, they was known, he was the elite crew. They had their little sound system on the on the machine, I mean on the uh on the bikes. Um, yeah, they was they was they was hood famous.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Man, um Eric B. Rakim, follow the leader.

SPEAKER_04 42:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

And that microphone fiend, bro.

SPEAKER_04 42:17

Microphone fiend, yep, that was classic. I was surprised to see the and I'm well not surprised, but they had some negotiation issues as well in their contracts. Eric B, I know that Rockem had signed something that allowed Eric B to kind of do what he wanted to do, but when it came back time to return the favor, Eric B wouldn't sign the contract for Rockem, which kind of caused a rift. And uh sadly, man, you think about it. I think after that album, the Follow the Leader album, he kind of Rockem kind of fizzled out a little bit, and that probably had to do to a lot of the contractual uh issues that he was having.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

Yeah, unfortunate, yeah. Cause that's it sucked. Um yeah, you know, you're right, started to fizzle out. I he was still like they were still having like a couple hits here and there, like the the ledge and all that. Um later. Um but yeah. Uh bro, were you uh a fan of Rodney O and Joe Cooley?

SPEAKER_04 43:26

Oh yeah. Okay. Oh that that they were they the um what's the name? Was it all the ugly people be quiet? Was that them?

SPEAKER_01 43:33

I think that is them, but all the ugly people be quiet.

SPEAKER_04 43:36

Now did they did they do the um Pee Wee Herman? Was that them too? No, that was Josky Love. You're right, my bad.

SPEAKER_01 43:45

Yeah, uh that album was called Me and Joe. Salt and Pepper, Salt with a Deadly Pepper. That album, bro. I love that album. And besides MC Light, I was uh I was also a Salt and Pepper fan, and my class.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

89 we man we got down with that and that album has some um that album had some classic songs on there it did um let's see shake your thing of course with e with you yeah and i would say their hardest cut everybody get up get up everybody yep oh yeah classic oh man they made it they made a heck of an impact man they kind of really set the tone for um fashion for the ladies too with the baby's and everything yeah rip ripped pants ash wash pants the salt and pepper jacket boys um yes they even had uh they even did twist and shout was uh twist and shout yeah yeah yeah i remember dancing to that thing come on come on come on come on baby yeah yeah hey they was they was hip hop pop because they're over big ups to them but we mentioned rod bass and easy uh dj easy rock rest in peace that rod both of them actually um yeah man you know what was was and when i was doing my research on um on those guys do you know that they both were born on the same day no that's yeah that's crazy may 18th in 1967 and they met in uh 77 they had formed a group called uh the sure shot okay yeah and they were signed to uh profile records where they made uh it takes two so and uh they both well um rob base just passed rest in peace uh easy easy rock he passed in 2014 uh from a diabetic uh diabetic seizure but they that it takes two man even to this day i mean when you go to any of these games pistons games lions games that song will get played uh while you're there doing the admission it's iconic yeah uh at the pet rally in that am i seeing year we did we we did the dance routine to that do you remember that pet do you you i don't know if you remember that pet rally oh yeah oh yeah i got in trouble miss miss jordan miss jordan so i was hey they they named me the class mascot so okay and now why she why was she mad at you brought to tell you and to she didn't like me either oh she no but she she was she was like a mother figure to me so she would it was she was mad at me because she was disappointed in me that's what it was and um because she mentored me she helped me through I was the president of surreals and all that um so I was the mascot name the mascot so every I can't remember all the classes that had a dance routine and uh so I was uh so my plan was to while the class of 90 do their dance because I felt we felt that there were they were our biggest competition okay so my my thought process is that while they're doing the metal day routine I'm gonna interrupt it with some shenanigans right some odb stuff oh I put on I had a gorilla mask on I had a gorilla mask on I had a thriller jacket on I don't remember that I don't remember and I had I had a six foot inflatable Godzilla oh wow we throwing it up Patty look like how you had a game got a big old volleyball we throwing him around and stuff like that so class 90 on the on the on the uh on the gym floor doing their routine I run to the locker room because we had just performed so I'm still still uh hyped from my performance I'm still sweating I'm tired sax I'm out of breath run to the locker room grab the gorilla mask grab the thriller mask a thriller thriller jacket run out in the middle of the court and start doing Michael Jackson Miss Jordan snatched me off the floor man and and she just gave it to me ah you don't do that blah blah blah yeah but you know what I was you know how I was validated well mr mr wilson pulled me to the side he said Hicks good job to this day man

Two Live Crew And Growing Up Unfiltered

SPEAKER_04 48:39

Mr.

SPEAKER_01 48:39

Wilson is cool and when I bring we I bring it up every now and then like I remember that Hicks I remember that Hicks that's just yeah that's his stuff uh oh bro two live crew move something man uncle move something yep man that's man that stuff was so crass and so graphic but it was so dumb man I just told my mama she had no idea we used to walk to the tasty freeze I was going to a people's community at the time that might have been 86 and somebody had a boom box and leaving a private school we walk into the tasty freeze banging two live crew the most vulgar music of that time bro dog if you listen to it it'll still make you blush because I was it does I was listening to uh loop man uh uh it's your birthday but it's no doodle brown doodle brown man dog dog dude he he has a lyric in a song called doodle brown that is so nasty i mean but move something bass you know they you know that's miami so they got this strip club thing going on and move something yeah uh hit hbc i mean y'all can figure it out what that means and m was a good song do my duty feel our right job man this i i i wore that album out and um me too big up some moms man because she bought me i had that she bought well she took me to the store i bought that cd that tape and i bought nwa bro so my mom would allow me to play it so i put it in the tape deck we listened to two lac crew and nwa golly i couldn't i couldn't do it and to this day i still can't play that type of music in front of my mom but i i i made good use of my headphones for sure i ran through the battery oh man luke man luke you are fried but hey we want some man that first album was dope though man yeah get it get it get it girl uh check it out y'all yeah uh man i'm like but dude all right uh sir makes light came out with swass um yeah ice tea pop power come on man yeah uh i don't think i don't think ice tea get enough credit man he don't he don't pioneer man pioneer time man come on man get that man his flowers yeah i'm your pusher um and high rollers man doom doom yeah it's nothing corny about ice tea at all no you know you might talk about him being an sbu but as a rap artist and i don't know if you saw him um he was part of the the hip hop 50 yeah i ice is up there in age man but when he gets on stage he's a different person i was like where all that energy come from yeah he just going at it man he's he's an artist man has taken good care of himself man yeah absolutely i was like man the energy it's just crazy but yeah big ups to him yes shout out to the ice man yeah man having all those dope hip hop covers i was just about to say uh because i believe the first lady on there was his first wife darlene yeah yeah she was cold coco count yeah oh you know ice gonna keep one on him on his arm bro he'd been he'd been with cocoa forever so he he's did he have a child by his first wife i think so man i i can't yeah he did he did yep okay because i believe i believe i saw his son uh i don't know if it's the son recreated the album or somebody and uh i don't know if he was showing the album and i don't know but i think he did i think i believe they had his son together okay uh yeah steady b bro let the hustlers play he's still he's still locked up ain't he like he got life is they they executed the uh other brother cool c because i believe they had did their robbery together and they ended up killing the sister uh and that and a bank robbery dang man so promising man because i was in the college man glamorous life is a song that we play all the time bro got it yeah oh man dang that's unfortunate so he got executed huh yeah cool c did dang bro uh mc hammer let's get it started bro let's get it started when i first saw him i'm like what am i watching this dude energy was just off the charts yeah you know hammer um he has some crap he had some cold cold look i'm i'm about to this the songs the singles from here he had four singles uh let's get it started you know it's it was the party your party wasn't jumping your dj was weak pump it up pump it up old boy that was my point turn this mother out yeah uh yeah yeah and they put me in the mix man he he bought me put me in the mix of tragedy i mean uh classic too yeah he brought a different um brought a different element to the game uh hip hop man dude he had people dancing man ll was ll was dancing in videos yeah jingling baby i was like oh that's definitely influenced by hammer uh yeah because ll was doing routines man i was like ll stop it and jingling baby he's doing routines bro uh see i see said he uh marley morrow in control was a symphony on that one i think it was on that one uh mc shan born to be wild yeah born to be wild uh kid and play i mentioned too hype let me see yeah that was that was man because i i i can relate to kid and play because me and e wes that was you know we played on that kid and play thing uh saw and pepper just i don't know it seemed like a lot of these people that we name were our peers in close in age range right but it just seemed like to me when i looked at saw and pepper and kid play it's to me they it came across as if they were still in high school and so i just felt close to them or i can really relate to them yeah and um so they had uh do this my way was the what's the jam that i like uh rolling with kid and play rolling with kid and play yeah oh la o la yeah hey what now did uh when did the uh we probably need to look that up when did uh house party first come out house party was um I was in college man I think 90 up though okay I was after yeah look that up I like the fact that like with all those guys that you know they like even like we were speaking about with Shaq you know he's hooping and then he's rapping and then he's movies uh I I just love the the uh you know just how wide ranged everybody was as far as displaying their their artistry yeah yeah uh yeah you're right march 9th 1990 so yeah I remember being in college because uh I remember going hitting the theater to go check it out so when you think about it 88 was like ground zero for the birth of a lot of stuff we were I think even though um crack really began to destroy our community it changed our community um but when you think about as black people where we were then that year with everything with sports with music with uh movies uh we gave the world uh uh some of the most greatest entertainment um across the board so it you know I I understand that is especially when you think about where we are as a culture now um I I think we're behind in a lot of areas but um during that time man it it was the it was the this the springboard to a lot of great things um like we spoke earlier about the Cosby show um a lot of that played a huge role in creating greater material that you know even to this day we still can enjoy yeah you're right man good good point yeah we I mean uh as our people we are we are the salt we are the flavor and the food and um man i can't I can't imagine society without us man i can't imagine man what like dude it would be boring absolutely okay uh event great adventures of slick rick another great album that flow that british that british flow that uh datana dane shared with him uh yeah that little they crew i like their crew what was that crew called where herbie love bug that was i was gonna say the get fresh crew but no that wasn't them um but they was yeah it uh it was datana dane uh sodden pepper oh yeah all of them man uh one of my favorite tracks was hey young world world yeah that was a classic track teenage that that's my that was my favorite album in 80 and i met slick rick one time on an airplane flight i forget where i was going but uh he was sitting in first class okay dude we definitely had style yeah i um yeah i was wearing them kangos because him i know i wore the bucket because ll and i wore the as we call the beanie kango because of slick rick yeah yep yeah he yeah he sure did he introduced that to hip hop yeah uh children's story hey one young world and teenage love those are just this classic songs he said rewent reward is a brainwashed kid going wild hey man uh argued argued to be the number one best storyteller in hip hop yeah i mean i mean you got other people but i mean he's an art he has his case for sure he started it you know uh when you think of 88 like i said he pretty much you know he marked that uh from that that that year uh with that album uh like i said that was my my favorite album of that year uh jangle jungle brothers came out straight out of the jungle that was one of my favorite albums too many um i think uh we will house you i think that's one of the tracks on there that was one of my favorite tracks one of my favorite albums yeah it definitely was um we was definitely bouncing that in college we will house you yeah yep yep that's on there yeah I didn't really get into them until I got to Gramm State and um that's what I liked about going to a university people from all over the country bringing their their flavor of music and what was big in their city and all that yeah and um because I remember when I was in um when I went to uh this is a little fast forward though when I went when I was in the army and you know I went to AIT you know AIT if you I don't know if you know what that means what that is advanced individual training so you go to the basic training to do all the physical stuff and then the AIT is the mental stuff so whatever you go in the army for whatever your job is that's what AIT um is for was was is that that was that for so I was in for graphics design but uh one of the things that and I was stationed in Denver Colorado okay Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado okay and the representative for the Midwest and even Detroit is there's some holes in this house there's some holes in this house in the percolator man so yeah oh hey man people's like hey man can can't you get somebody to send me that from Detroit and I didn't have the resources or people didn't have the resources but I was I remember hitting people up hey man let me get the holes in this house of percolator man yeah but people in different yeah they want that and um but yeah that's what I liked about college and then going to where like where I was a basic trainer yeah at me people from all over the country.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:56

Yeah yeah I I'm quite sure man I when I look back I that's an experience that I wish I would have taken uh but I'm quite sure just the fact of being able to travel and all the perks to come along with that um that's I'm quite sure that's um a great uh a great memory for you and the the fact that you took that opportunity to do that and also too i i like to thank god too because everywhere i was placed outside of michigan uh huh i was surrounded by yungster folk bro amen angster folk it was like eight people that went to ground the state when i down there from yankster okay even in the army bro my son's mother was there bomb was there yeah yeah she yeah we went yeah we went down yeah we went down there together yup um tyre dickerson and man it was john donald john donald okay it was a few people and then when i went to the when i was in the army in basic training it was a dude named sean queen he went to robershaw okay so we we connected man and but he was home from home he was home away from home so we sit there talk about the rivalry and the people that we knew that was you know people that we knew together and all that so i was able to always be surrounded by home and i thank god for that bro that's yeah that's love um easy does it came out what about yeah man we want easy easy yeah he easy became a celebrity yeah yeah he was the face of that group even though uh even though ice t did i mean ice cube did his thing uh easy e was the face of that yes he was uh canine posse was you into canine posse because i wasn't i wasn't no i was not i was not and you but you know to our credit it was so much hip hop to to choose from then and you think about like you you had the public enemy with their self-conscious rap then you had nwa and everything in between so you had a plethora of uh music i mean it was too much like you i mean you had to make a choice i hate to say it i don't like this in the the newer generation but like i almost a lot of the i don't have a lot of the music platforms because it's not really a a great variety of music to just really choose from in my opinion i could be right i agree but back then man you had to make a choice like dang do i want the public enemy and nwa do i or do i want the slick rick and uh uh uh big daddy big daddy yeah so it was a lot to choose from you know uh three times dope bro oh man uh funky dividends to this day still one of my favorite tracks of all time that beat is so smooth and that was big up to Philly

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

Man, that was that was dope. Yeah. Um let's see. That's about man, we almost the skinny boys came out that here.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:12

Uh Chubb Rock, bro.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:15

Chubb Rock. It's uh classic to this very day. He still can play his songs in the club or at the stadium to this day.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:26

So naming everything, uh Whistle came out too. Whistle came out. Okay. But I think that's the there's the other album. The one whistle song I like was uh was it I'm just bugging. I think that was the previous album.

Settling The 1988 Versus 1996 Debate

SPEAKER_01 1:06:46

But um, yeah, man, listen to those, listening, listening both of those years 96 and 88, and to me, 88 is to me the overwhelming favorite far as the best year in hip hop, if you want to compare those two. I heard 94 is another year, and we might cover that one time. But between the two, I think 88 is a better uh representation of hip-hop. What did you think?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:12

Yeah, I'm I'm I'm gonna say it's a photo finish, but I'm gonna give it to 88 because of the fact that those were pioneers and they started it. Like they set the groundwork, you know, they set the uh the framework for for hip-hop. Um and when you think about trying to figure out everything when it comes to the contracts and points and record labels and uh pressing plans to press up the music and all of that stuff, yeah. That 88 was the year that that really hip-hop was truly born, even though that there were uh there were songs before then, that's when it just it took off. Like you think about everybody we just named from public enemy, uh Rockham, Eric B and Rock Kim, EPMD, uh, uh Slick Rick, K R S one. We like I said, we had so much um to choose from. So yeah, I'm gonna stamp 88 as the greatest year, the golden year of hip-hop, because it set up the groundwork for the years of '94 and '96.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:24

Yeah. Well said.

When Hip Hop Hit The Billboard Top 100

SPEAKER_01 1:08:26

Also, I want to mention too, there was it was speaking. When I was looking when I was doing my research, they were talking about hip hop starting to finally uh penetrate the top 100 billboard. Yeah. And so in 88, these are the three songs that that that peaked uh that peaked on the 100 billboard chart. Uh Going Back to Cali made it to 31. Uh The Butt. Yep, L L. The Butt by EU EU, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:57

Great college song.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:59

Mm-hmm. And charted it made it to 35. And um, and then it takes two by Rob AC and then DJ Easy Rock that uh came at 36 that year.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:10

Yeah, the the year 88 was diversified and it was globalized, man. You know, ranging from politically charged to innovative uh dance music and storytelling.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

One thing we left out, bro.

Yo MTV Raps And Going Mainstream

SPEAKER_01 1:09:25

No, it started in 1988. Yo MTV Raps.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:29

Yo MTV raps was glued to it.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:32

Yes, what helped hip hop go mainstream, you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:36

Uh if you I don't know if you know the story, because originally when Yo MTV Raps was first birthed on MTV, it was just Five Five Freddy on the weekend. Okay. He was always on location. And he would go into uh these cities because he wanted to bring these cities to the homes of America.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:56

And but uh the success of Yo T MTV Raps on the weekend prompted the uh execs at MTV to want to have it five days a week. And Fat Fi Freddy wasn't interested in that at all.

unknown 1:10:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:11

He was like, nah, I'd rather be, I'd rather go on location. Because you know, if you know Fat Fi Freddie, he likes to travel, he's a man of the people.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:20

I was gonna say, man, we got to uh should we name him the godfather of hip hop? Because in the book that I'm reading now, him and the artist uh Basquiat were very tight, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:33

Did they mention um Blondie in there and Debbie Harris?

SPEAKER_04 1:10:36

Yes, yeah. Man, I love part of that circle, man. Man, I love that, man. Yeah, and you know, like he really set the tone and the stage for all of this to come about, man. Uh played a huge role in uh putting hip-hop in in front of the the world. Okay, he just recently did a a um he was on the Drink Champs podcast. Shout out to them. I didn't get a chance to listen to the whole thing, but he tells his story about Blondie and everything and how they kind of got started uh with hip-hop. But yeah, man, Fab Five, Fab Five Freddy, very instrumental in hip-hop. I'm gonna dub them the godfather hip-hop because again, he kind of helped uh get you know uh helped create the the landscape for hip-hop to become what it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:29

And I mentioned on I mentioned this situation on on the podcast before, on I think one of the Prince episodes, but uh Blondie were the musical guests on Saturday Night Live, and instead of performing one of their songs, they introduced the Funky Four Plus One. Okay. They didn't have to do that, you know what I'm saying? Nah, you know, yeah. They were like one of the biggest pop rock groups uh of that time, of that time, but they choose to to bring uh hip-hop to America, man. That was dope. And it was and that forever made Blondie one of my favorite groups in Debbie Harry. I have pictures of Debbie Harry all over my street. Uh that just that was just love because she didn't have to do that, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:15

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:16

And um, I don't know how MTV got I forgot the story about how Ed Lover and Dr. Dre was discovered, but because of I know because of Fat Fire Freddie didn't want to do it five days a week, they were searching for some, you know, some hosts. And I know they end up they end up coming with uh Ed Lover and Dr. Dre.

MTV, Michael Jackson, And Breaking Barriers

SPEAKER_04 1:12:36

Yeah, it took MTV a while to really start introducing black artists um on their platform.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:44

Mm-hmm. It took Michael Jackson took Michael Jackson. Yeah, it took Michael Jackson knocked that door down. Yep. And then Vincent.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:52

Can you imagine that, man? We're talking about 19 in the 80s. Uh they did not want to show black artists uh in that in that light or in you know at all. And it like I said, it took Michael Jackson and uh honestly two of the greatest, if not the greatest, music videos of all time and thriller and Billy Jean and beat it. Three.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:13

Yeah, beat it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:14

So he knocked the door down for us.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:18

And you know, big up to uh John Branka. You know, we know he talked about uh if you saw the Michael movie, he um you know, Mike, Mike, John Branca, Mike went to the exact uh went to uh CBS Epic Records. Yeah and you know, walked to Yetnikov, they say, hey man, uh we we want to put our music, we want our videos, we want to put our videos on MTV. And Yetnikov's like, I've tried. Mike would say, try harder. And call the place like, look, man, if you don't put you on put Michael Jackson and Billy Jean on, I'm taking all my artists, all my CBS artists from your lineup. And at that time, when MTV had just started, the videos were limited, you know, because when they first started, most of the videos from overseas. And then once the video started to catch on here in the States, it would just it was it was they were MTV primarily just showed the same videos over and over. Oh yeah, yeah, and eventually, you know, they Mike because Mike had that vision. I think Mike started that vision with uh when he was with his brothers with Can You Feel It video. If you saw that video, oh yeah. I mean, that just I mean it was no videos like that, you know. What is this, a movie or what? Yeah, and you know, he had that vision to make every video or short film just be iconic. And that's why, you know, when I was talking about Mike on the Michael movie episode, and my friend John asked me, my boy John asked me about how did I feel about the Michael Jackson concert. I mean, it's crazy. I mean, what you see on TV all the time, and then now you're seeing it in person, it just it blows you off, it blows you, blows your socks off. But what I did say is the fact that because his videos are so iconic, he's gonna perform that. So you know what that entails. And it's almost like when you see a Michael Jackson show, you've seen one, yeah, because he's pretty much does the same thing, and because that's what people want. People want to see the uh reenactment of those videos and all that, so that makes sense to do that. But I was and I was comparing them like we always do with Prince. Prince changed his set list all the time, and and he was also too a type of person, and I always didn't want to perform the hits.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:38

He might go play the hits, you're gonna play the hits, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:42

You're gonna play the hits.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:44

Prince I went to I went to his concert here as a kid. That was the first time I had ever gone to any concert.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:50

Which one is that?

SPEAKER_04 1:15:51

Uh, I believe it was 84. I know I remember seeing uh Magic Johnson and Thomas Hearns. It was a third person that was with them. They sat above the crowd. Man, we were close, uh uh probably about maybe 13 roles from the uh stage. But we were young and nobody sat down. The entire concert, people were standing on the chairs, and so uh we really couldn't see it because you know everybody was was on the chairs uh going crazy. So but it was a great freaking concert.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:30

84, that was the victory tour. I know I didn't see that one.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:34

Uh I saw uh I saw the bad tour. I didn't see it. I would love to see because I want to see the brothers. Yeah, but okay, there you have it,

Final Salutes And Listener Shoutouts

SPEAKER_01 1:16:46

people. 1988. What is your choice? You like 96, 88? Uh good topic to talk about. You know, yeah, just I just love this hearing uh stories of starting up hip hop and how it just gradually grew over the years. And and 88 definitely was a springboard for that growth, man. You know? Um so any any any final words before we get up out of here, man?

SPEAKER_04 1:17:15

Yeah, just real quick, man. Um I know in '88 uh also Doug Williams became the first black court to win that Super Bowl with Washington. Uh the macho man, Randy Savage, beat uh Ted Diossi in uh WrestleMania uh four.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:37

Four, okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:38

Um and that's just you know, just to add to uh how great of a year that was um, you know, for us overall. And you know, like I alluded earlier, the Pistons lost to the Lakers in a war in the finals uh that year, but we came back and we won two straight. So just imagine we won, we went to three straight championships uh starting in '88. We lost the first one, one uh two. But I just want to give a shout out to all the pioneers, uh, all everybody that we we spoke about. Uh thank them, man, for their dedication to hip hop, creating um, like you said, uh, the groundbreaking or ground zero for us to have great music after that. So salute to all those guys. Thanks to everybody listening abroad. We greatly appreciate y'all. Yes, uh, been getting a lot of love, man. So I'm very thankful for the opportunity, brother. And um, yeah, shout out to 88.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:39

88, great 88. Uh also I want to give a shout out to my boy Admin Boo Jay Young. He man, he makes great music. Boo Jay. He makes great music. So go to YouTube, it's under Bullying Jewelry, B-O-O, Capital L I N G Jewelry. And the song I'm gonna play on today's episode is Hate to See You Go. I love to see you leave. And make sure you listen to that after the outro and check out my boy, he makes good awesome music and then yeah, eventually I want some of your music on here too, my brother.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:15

All right, all right, yeah, I'm gonna work on that, bro.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:17

All right, peace out, everybody. And also, oh my bad. Before I go, I always gotta say my tagline. Yes, sir. Always be you, share your gift, and keep those classes current.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:31

Peace out. Peace.

Outro And How To Support

SPEAKER_00 1:19:34

Thanks for tuning in to the Disco Hicks Show, where the stories live on and the music never fades. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, share, subscribe, comment, and rate me and keep the conversation going. Remember, always be you, share your gift, and keep those classics current. Until next time, keep the needle dropping and the good vibes rolling. This is your host signing off.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:39

Hey, looking good.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:40

You know it. Strolling down the avenue. Coco Butterbread, strawberry, go give a little like a day.