HipHop Talks Podcast
Introducing "Hip-Hop Talks Podcast/Media'' - a captivating experience that immerses hip-hop enthusiasts in the boundless world of the genre and its cultural impact. Join hosts Shawn, Coop, and Adriel as they pay homage to the foundations of hip hop, from its origins to the present day with a diverse take on Hip Hop. Shawn, takes you through the boroughs of New York, while Coop provides a provocative, yet daring take on the South’s stake in the Hip Hop game. Adriel brings the unique perspective of Hip Hop through the lens of those that cling onto the lifeline and purity of Hip Hop. Combining their thoughts and views, is liken to your favorite superhero team assembling to lean into each other’s strengths. Through insightful conversations, passionate debates, and meticulous breakdowns, they explore the intricate fabrics of hip hop, including its powerful lyrics, infectious beats, mesmerizing breakdancing, vibrant graffiti art, skillful DJing, and electrifying MCing. "Hip-Hop Talks" is the ultimate destination for fans seeking to deepen their understanding and appreciation of this influential art form. Tune in and become part of the unified community that celebrates the timeless legacy of hip hop.
HipHop Talks Podcast
Current Top 10 Rappers Over 40 | RIP DJ UNK | The Lox | Kiss, Meth, Prodigy Debuts, & MORE
🎵outro music plays🎵. Yo, yo what's good, it's Hip Hop Talks. Welcome talks. Welcome everyone. Peace to the chat. You can find us on youtube, apple, spotify and amazon music. Welcome to the show what up?
Speaker 3:what up. You can find me on the east side, north side of Decatur College Park, van Hill Campus in Marietta, stockbridge, ellinwood, smyrna Forest Park, lakewood.
Speaker 2:You can find me nowhere. I'm on the road again. You can find me nowhere, I'm on the road again.
Speaker 1:When.
Speaker 2:Kappa said check button, he said DC check button.
Speaker 1:Classic album. Shout out to Kappa.
Speaker 3:Oh god, we're going to get Coop started early. Is that what we're doing? No, no, no, cut me off. That's what we're doing. Cut me off. I don't want to be a part of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, make sure y'all like and subscribe to the channel. You know what I mean. We creeping up on 2,000 subscribers. We're really close, so we appreciate it. You know. If y'all are tapping into the show and haven't subscribed yet, you know what I'm saying. Hit that subscribe button. It costs you nothing and it's quick and easy to do. You know what I mean. So, and tell a friend. To tell a friend, you know, send this link to somebody else Because we're creeping up on that 2K and we're averaging over 2K views per show. So we got the real tapping in, so our sub count needs to match our you know our visual count. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:So hit that like and subscribe button, if you don't mind. We literally should probably hit 2K subs by the time we wake up in the morning.
Speaker 1:That would be dope. That would be a nice Friday surprise right there.
Speaker 3:I want a different nice Friday surprise, but that's not for the air. Different Friday surprise, right there.
Speaker 2:I want a different nice Friday surprise, but that's not for the air. Different Friday surprise it's a blue shoe. You're happy.
Speaker 3:Head in the mold. Head in the mold.
Speaker 1:So what's first on the docket tonight? Fellas, what we got up first. You want to talk about new music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's talk about new music. We got a super chat at the game, so let's get this super chat real quick, no doubt no doubt, let's see CJ the Kid.
Speaker 1:Shout out to the homie CJ with the $5 super chat. Hey guys, how is everything? Hope you guys are doing well, staying healthy Prayer hands. Yo appreciate the love, CJ, Definitely. Thank you for keeping us in our prayers. You know some of us right now can definitely use them. Real talk, Thank you.
Speaker 3:Appreciate you, CJ. Where are we at? So we got new music, fellas. What y'all think of that new sexy red in Bruno Mars Trash?
Speaker 2:Trash AG Trash.
Speaker 1:Trash. It's ratchet trash, guess what?
Speaker 3:Hold on, we're three for three with the trash. I got culturally appropriated trash, trash all around, because Bruno's on the track Now with Bruno Mars talking about throwing up gang signs. He was talking about throwing up gang signs. I said that's appropriation of our culture and I'm out on this motherfucker again Trash.
Speaker 1:He was talking about throwing something else up on the track too, but yeah, that was wild.
Speaker 3:Nobody will. Bruno's not about this wild. Bruno's not about this life. Alright, Bruno's not about this life. He can wear all the Versace shirts and throw them all. Yo, Sean with the crazy thumbnails, that's wild. He can ride in all the Cadillacs, throw up all the sets. He can do all that shit. Alright, it ain't gonna matter.
Speaker 2:It's a caricature, man. It's a caricature of himself. He's a culture vulture. I said it a long time ago, man, this is bad, me too.
Speaker 3:You and me had that conversation when we first talked, sean, we did Y'all didn't mess with Tilt-Sonic, though Tilt-Sonic was kind of tough.
Speaker 4:Y'all it was kind of tough.
Speaker 3:Okay, so here's the thing, ag, he's been so bad at the appropriation that although I know how great the music that album sounds, I can't get past the appropriation at this point. It's been so embedded for me here so long. By the time Silk Soda came along, the first conversation Sean and I had, sean and I talked for like three or four hours and this was years ago now, but we ended up on Bruno. Me and Sean spent about 30 minutes on Bruno and just like no, no, no, I'll keep game like way back when and so when you keep game way back, when it's just hard to digest the product after that.
Speaker 3:I love Silk Sonic sonically speaking, but I can't sit down and enjoy it because I know who's singing the records and what his songwriters and his teams do culturally speaking to our people. How about this? He got a lot of records that Chris Brown and Usher really should have, but I'm going to say less.
Speaker 1:Well, I ain't going to hold you but having a half-hour conversation about Bruno Mars' nasty work, so we can go on to the next song.
Speaker 3:Just more about the appropriation.
Speaker 2:Go to the next song, please, let's talk this shit man, this dude, man Wild. So shout out to man, shout out to our chat. We had someone hit the chat early, early A-Dub. He asked us to tap in to King Lowe's LA Lakers freestyle. Yes.
Speaker 3:Hold on, sean, you mind if I say something right quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, LA Leaguers is the new funk flex. Like for like people in our generation who don't know. You know what I'm saying. Right, like going to LA Leaguers, like going to Leaguers now is like going to Flex, like to drop a bomb. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So this is. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he killed it. So shout out to again man. Shout out to our chat. It was A-Dub. Shout out to A-Dub man for throwing that alley-oop to us early, early today, before the show even started. He was in the chat early. He said yo, y'all need to check that out, you need to check that out. And um, yo, it was superb. It was superb. Um, shout out to Adel for giving us that lead up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's, let's stay right here for a minute, like it wasn't just a run of the mill freestyle, bro. Bro went crazy, like you know. I mean for a long time it was damn near 20 minutes. Um, you, you know, he went over uh, um, the tell me joint, incarcerated, scar faces, and then the um, uh, the ugk and outcast was um, international players anthem. Right, listen, that story he told on the first joint. You know I'm saying the first part of the freestyle was crazy, crazy storytelling. And then into the second joint and he said it was a real story. You, and then into the second joint and he said it was a real story. You know what I'm saying? The way he wove that together was just immaculate. And then by the time he gets to the end, to an international player's anthem freestyle, the whole scheme that he did about the Zodiac signs.
Speaker 3:That was pretty cold. So I'll tell you what AG. Here's what I thought and I want to. That was pretty cold. I did and here's what I said. I said to myself well, he's cannabis in a good way. I hope he's not cannabis in a bad way. You feel what I'm saying when I say that, yes, I hope, I hope he remains to be cannabis in a good way and not cannabis in a bad way. And then I don't mind this shit and it's super dope what he did. But at the end of the day and I may have to get off, but y'all are going to talk about this too the album making process is the separator, guys like it's the separator, the voice in the album making process. For me, with the MC, is the separating process. What separates Nas from Black Thought is the voice and the album making process. It is.
Speaker 1:It is yeah, and if you look, at a lot of it.
Speaker 3:That's what it's about, and so when I hear his voice and I hear his rhymes, he gives me cannabis vibes and that makes me worry for him, quite frankly, because that means he may not get what he deserves if he don't make the album that reflects that. What do you?
Speaker 1:say to that I can see what you're saying. Shout out to Baltimore. By the way, King Lo's from Baltimore.
Speaker 3:He's nice on the mic. Though he's nice on the mic.
Speaker 1:The way he weaves together the storytelling. I don't want to say I see where you're coming from, but cannabis was more over your head with it. You know what I'm saying. King Los is more intricate and the thing about cannabis that didn't translate to what you're talking about. Like tracks and album making, and one of my friends was like a diehard cannabis fan like in real time Cannabis was his favorite rapper, but he was real objective. He said the only thing that cannabis has wrong with them is you can cut and paste every rhyme he does, because everything sounds like a battle rap. You know what I'm saying. Like everything you can really like, you know what I'm saying. No matter what feature he's on, no matter what the story subject matter is the topic on the track, cannabis always sounds like he's battle rapping someone.
Speaker 3:He always attacking, right. I was about to say I think that's I. I get what you're saying. I don't totally agree with that because here's what I feel like I feel like on his album and on his projects he has tried to step out of that sphere and it is not going well, no, and so you kind of stick to what you do. Well, if that's what you do, we're going to kind of talk about this later with the Discord dialogue with some of the people that we're going to talk about. It's like, well, really, what they suffered from was not doing what they did. Well, right, but we can have that conversation later. But I thought the freestyle was pretty exceptional. Like we just talked about the bar work and the cadence and the freestyle. That's classic mixtape stuff. But that's what I'm saying. It's like classic mixtape stuff, you know, only takes you so far with your legendary status. It's like jeez, he don't just got classic mixtapes, he got classic albums. Nipsey don't just got classic mixtapes, he got classic albums.
Speaker 3:You feel me, yeah, so so that mixtape shit, that mixtape flow only goes, but so far. But as far as, like on some rhyme shit going, gave you shades of black. Thought on flex yeah, albums.
Speaker 1:Albums are a separator, but a lot of people who make classic albums can't go on a radio show and do that, so oh, hell, no.
Speaker 3:But also, too, you have to ask yourself is that what you want from them? It's like. It's like oh, is common gonna give you that on a freestyle? Hell, no, because, because. Because it's because when he listens to something like that, he's like I'm putting that shit on my album right, right, sometimes it's about what you choose to give the people like.
Speaker 3:There is a part of me that listened to that ag and sean and felt, like yo, he might have given us a little bit too much. That like ag, the first set of bars, that's album heat. That's Kendrick Lamar album content heat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those stories on the first two instrumentals were album worthy. But what I will say? Let's be clear. When we say freestyle, everybody knows when people go up to radio stations they have riddance prepared. But just to top it all off, at the end of the session session you know what I'm saying he had word call outs and was doing legit off the top of the dome freestyle.
Speaker 3:So he did some real freestyle at the end. Think about this. This is why the album making process is such a separator. Think about where we would have Kane ranked if he had a Kendrick like catalog. We would be having goat talk.
Speaker 1:People got Kane top ten anyway.
Speaker 3:That's what I'm saying. He's already up there. Imagine where he would be with Kendrick's catalog. That's what I'm talking about, the album separated being the thing. If Kane has Kendrick's catalog, Kane's the goat guys.
Speaker 1:He's up there.
Speaker 3:Think about it, because you've got to think about the fact that it's like, oh no well, the live show, the voice, the delivery, the flow, the cadence, the dance moves and the albums to go with it, and yeah, kane has one classic album, but that just shows you how classic that album is as a buy in like with his ranking, but if Kane has three or four, we having goat talk.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm saying, absolutely.
Speaker 3:So them albums matter. So as much as I love the King Loves Freestyle, I'm like, okay, do that on an album now, since you gave me album material on a freestyle on LA Leaguers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's the production. That's what happened to Cannabis. It's hard to find the right layer and musical palette to chase that kind of cadence of rap, because even when he switched it up and went to a different palette of music, it still wasn't hitting. It wasn't hitting, it's off. Yeah.
Speaker 3:AJ, we got some more. I mean, we can blame Wyclef and we'll talk about this later, soon. I think you know there's levels to be thinking too, fellas, you know what I'm saying. Some guys got a ear for it, some people don't. Like I know this chick, you know what I'm saying. Like she's a hairstylist. She runs her own couple of salons down here, but she used to be back in Miami back in the day running with a lot of the major football players and like music people and every time I'm around her her ear for music she's always like I miss my calling. I should have been a and I'm like you should have been, because every time I hop in the whip with her, anything that she's ever played for me over the years has always been like the next and it's like some people just got a better ear for music than others. You know what I'm saying. So some of what, like some of the, the best lyricists do suffer from is the is the bad beat picker syndrome, and I'm not talking about nas when I'm saying that.
Speaker 2:He's actually the antithesis to that yeah, or some direction, direction in the studio we'll get to some of the super chats real quick.
Speaker 1:Shout out to cj the kid again with the five hour super chat. Appreciate you, sean. Can you tell them how um disgusted you are with razzcast involvement, because that shit was funny. Oh, you, you talking about Sean in the Discord? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Sean ain't gonna speak on it.
Speaker 1:Yo, ill Magic, appreciate you. With the $2 super chat, I wish we could see Doc do a new freestyle on 106. Yeah, I don't know if I think Henderson got to that level where you know what I'm saying he won't be popping up on no radio shows doing any more freestyles. I think thatrickson got to that level where he won't be popping up on no radio shows doing any more freestyles. I think that's passed. But for the sentiment, though, I do miss 106 apart, though I mean, he's not talking about 106 apart, he's talking about power 106, right.
Speaker 3:No, okay, probably power 106. Same difference in a lot of ways. All right, fellas.
Speaker 2:Let's go to Will Smith. Will Smith and Big Sean.
Speaker 3:Big Sean and Big Willie fellas, Big Sean and Big.
Speaker 2:Willie, that's crazy, that shit. Look, corny, I ain't gonna lie. I ain't gonna lie that shit's terrible.
Speaker 3:That's Big Sean, it's Lil Sean, hey you. So hold on. I'm going to tell you my first take. It's obvious that Sean wrote this whole song.
Speaker 4:Yes, it's obvious.
Speaker 3:These are Sean's bars. So Will Smith is willing to pay top dollar. That's what I thought I was like. Will Smith is willing to pay top dollar. That's what I thought I was like. Will Smith is willing to pay top dollar Because this is definitely Big Sean's song. Will Smith is definitely like you know what I'm saying purchased off. This is why Sean is where the upper echelon rapper for this era kind of like stops and starts, because he's big enough to pull in a Will Smith to write for and help do records with. You get what I'm saying. Like he's on Will Smith's radar. Yeah, you feel me. Yeah, like Will know who Sean is and fuck with Sean. You know what I mean. He's just that big enough of a superstar as an artist that somebody like Will Smith will reach out to him in this era, very much like he reached out to Anaz once upon a time. You get what I'm saying. So a record like this lets me know that Sean is highly regarded, actually, I ain't writing no bars for will.
Speaker 1:If you know I'm saying since philly in the super bowl instead of detroit, I'm pissed about, I'm like. Will you write your own boys?
Speaker 3:okay, that's funny. Detroit just wasn't healthy detroit, detroit, detroit will be there next year if they're healthy detroit will be representing fc in the super bowl next year, if they're healthy. Nah, he lost too much the NFC in the Super Bowl next year if they're healthy.
Speaker 2:Nah, they lost too much.
Speaker 1:But shout out for Will for mimicking the flow. He did a good job mimicking Sean's flow.
Speaker 3:And that's the problem Classically trained rapper.
Speaker 2:He's a classically trained rapper, yes, he is, I want to hear Sean's thoughts, and that's the problem. This song's actually a dope song. It's actually really a dope song. And even if Big Sean wrote for Will which more likely he did Will outdid Sean in the category of stealing the show and having panache and having that extra oomph in the way he's rhyming, in the way he's delivering, he's beat them out and that's the thing that's holding Big Sean back His delivery or his ability to keep us in there. Pause.
Speaker 3:Hold on, hold on, sean. Are you sure that's not this hip-hop culture underrating Will Smith, like I've been saying the entirety of this time that I've been doing podcasts? Are you sure it's not Will Smith? No, you went too far with it, though. You went a little too far. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Are you sure that Sean's not rated properly and we're just underrating what Will Smith is capable of?
Speaker 1:Are you sure? Nah, I think Will's where he needs to be.
Speaker 2:He's where he needs to be. Absolutely, is Will Smith a top 100? Rapper on the time team. Yes, will might be top 50. He might be somewhere in the 50, 50, 75 mark. You can't take away from Will. He can't do that. You can't do that. Ag Will is a talent, he's a talent. Don't do that.
Speaker 1:I'm going to stay quiet on this one man I love Will man, will Top 5.
Speaker 3:He would be somewhere between 60 to 100, but he would be on my list. 60 to 100, but on the list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's up there.
Speaker 3:He's up there. He's got a great rap voice guys.
Speaker 1:He's got a great rap voice. That part is true.
Speaker 3:That part is true he's got a great rap voice. He always has. He was a rapper voice. Part of what got him into acting was his voice. People was like man, that's a great voice. That voice would be great on the big screen.
Speaker 1:I'm going to just say he chose the right career path. At the end of the day, he's a much better actor than he's a rapper oh yeah, because he's one of the best.
Speaker 3:because, how about this? Because he's one of the better actors of all time and of his generation. In terms of better rappers of his generation, well, he has Slick Rick and Chuck B and Kane and Rock M and Kane. So, no, only because he has those guys.
Speaker 1:And that's no disrespect to Will. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:I grew up on Will. No, no, not at all. Not at all. Will is hip-hop. Will is hip-hop yeah.
Speaker 3:Motherfucker, you, motherfucker, you get pulled over Coop. No, the emergency unit just did a whole stop on the side of the road and didn't even use their signal. How the fuck are you going to be the emergency unit? I'm literally in the middle of downtown Atlanta right now and the emergency unit just didn't use their signal to get over and almost caused an accident. I can't with these niggas. I can't with these niggas. I thought he was going to pull it over.
Speaker 2:I was literally passing.
Speaker 3:MLK's house. I'm literally passing MLK's house right now. I'm in the middle of downtown Atlanta. This is some motherfucking bullshit.
Speaker 1:All right, we've had a road rage where hip hop talks is crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was hoping he was getting pulled over. Honestly, I was like he's a disaster, Get on the ground.
Speaker 3:Get on the ground.
Speaker 1:Yo, speaking of new music, though, we've had the pleasure of getting a sneak preview of the homie I am god's new upcoming project called city of god. It's on the way, heard eight tracks from it. You know, I'm saying and if I'm not mistaken the producers you know doing the tracks is named city, and I will say this, I've ran through the tracks. Is named Stitty and I will say this. I've ran through the tracks twice and this is not hyperbole because he's the homie or whatever, not gassing, none of that.
Speaker 1:He's elevating it on this project. The breath control, the pocket that he's in, switching gears with the flow, like the versatility, everything he's doing on each of, with the flow, like the versatility, everything he's doing on each of the different tracks is just bananas, like he's really in a pocket that he wasn't in on the last album, and the last album the bar was high because it was fire, but he's doing things on this new upcoming project that he wasn't doing on the last one. I can hear the elevation and you know, be on the lookout for that. It's fine, yo, shout out to I Am God, appreciate you sending the tracks over for a preview, an early look at that you know what I'm saying yeah, Fine so.
Speaker 2:Sean go ahead. No go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 3:He's just the best MC I've heard since I've been doing this podcast. As far as people that I hadn't heard before, it just is what it is. As far as people like I've, literally March I believe March 14th of this year will make five years that I've been in this space. Guys, he's the best MC that I've heard during that time and every time I hear him he gets better. Ag, you are right. The pocket of flows that he is choosing on this album. If you are familiar with him and know his rap style, watching him choose these pocket of flows instead of doing it when he has a solid formula of working.
Speaker 3:I don't want to overstate this because I'm not saying it's that. Oh, the songs on Reasonable Doubt are better. But I keep telling people give me 97-0 because of what he did with his flow in relationship to the quality of the material. It's like oh no. I know that five of Jay's ten best songs are in reasonable doubt, but oh no, there's about you can make an argument. The other five are on volume one because the flow is just so fucking sick and his flow on here is ridiculous. And this is without us having a mix or a mastered version.
Speaker 3:I'm going to tell you one more time, like it was told to me oh, the best moment of my life was when a signed rap artist sat in my car and listened to my shit and said I'll take you anywhere, to any label, to any studio. And that's how I feel every time I hear I am God, I'm like I will take this nigga to any studio. I will take this nigga to any studio. I will take this nigga to any label on any coast, at any time and be completely comfortable with the co-sign. He is one of the best rap MCs out here today. I don't even talk about independent, known, unknown, signed, unsigned. He's one of the nicest niggas out here. I used to fucking rap. The shit that he is doing is hard to do. It is hard to do.
Speaker 1:It is hard to do. Big facts, big facts you got a chance to take it out of your song.
Speaker 3:You're about to be super impressed with this project. People, when you hear it, Mm-hmm I don't know what I just said.
Speaker 2:He's rapping, rapping on this joint man. It seems like he figured out the proper production to go along with his style. You know what I mean. Like the last album, I felt that he was getting there. This one, it's like one of the things where, okay, I know who I am. I know what this production means to me when I do with it, and he did everything he did with it. Honestly, shit man. I'd be happy to get him on here so we can talk about it, because we talked about it just now, about finding the right production for your cadence, for your voice, for your style, for your delivery, all of that. And this was the proper production for everything that he does with it.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you brought the production up, sean, because when I heard it I was thinking eerie, like conductor sounding style beats but with hard-hitting drums. But what I Am God is doing over the tracks is so effortless he's going in and out of his regular flow to sniping. You know, in Chicago they call that you know what I'm saying that double-time flow sniping. But he's just doing it like so effortlessly and smooth, weaving in and out of different flow patterns and pockets. You know, on these dope hard hitting beats and I'm just like that might be, you know lower BPMs but it just sounds smooth with the sniping over. It's a great contrast, but you know it works, like you just have to hear it. Great contrast, but it works, you just have to hear it. So I'm excited for the project to come out and other people to hear it, because it was a surprise to me when he hit us with it. So I really appreciate that.
Speaker 3:Are y'all familiar with the movie the Quick and the Dead With Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman and Leonardo DiCaprio? You know when Gene Hackman talks about I always wanted to fight you, it excites me. Yeah, if you've ever emceed, that's how you feel when I Am. God is rapping. He's one of those guys. He excites you Like hold on. It's like, oh, you want to rap nigga. Like he makes you want to rap. Like he brings out the competitive side in you.
Speaker 3:If you ever MC'd, that is a rare ability and quality to have to be able to do that to other artists. When I listen to him, he's the only artist that I've heard that brings that out of me. When I hear him, I'm like, oh no, it's like if he asked me to jump on some shit, I will. I want to rap with him. You feel me, competitively speaking, want to rap with him. You feel me like, competitively speaking, like in a healthy way, in the way rap was intended. So he's important to the culture, for the fabric, and I'm seeing to me because he incites people to want to rap, who know what rap looks like from the perspective of having done it.
Speaker 1:That's hard to do, yep and I like what he says too. He calls himself the goat, the g-o-t-e, the greatest of this era. You know, know what I'm saying, and that speaks to what you were saying, coop.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and if you're gonna call yourself I Am God, you better be nice, you better be nice, you better be nice. And he is First time I heard him. I was like this nigga better be nice. His name is I Am am god. I was two tracks in. I said this nigga is nice.
Speaker 1:keep this shit rolling yo shout out to I am god man for real yeah, we gonna talk to him soon.
Speaker 3:I got a video I gotta shoot for him and his peoples.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying but yeah, yeah, so that's all we got on the new music front, right guys?
Speaker 2:let's get into some old music. Let's do a quick shout to Roxanne Shante.
Speaker 1:Oh forgot about that. Yeah, sir, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Roxanne Shante. She got the lifetime achievement award. This is major because an emcee a female emcee at that, who's done so much for the culture of hip-hop not just for women but just for the culture of hip-hop being recognized by the Grammys and her name is not a popular name amongst the pantheon of women, and the fact that she was able to get recognized and get this nomination, you think about it. We didn't talk about Roxanne Shante out and being passed out on her catalog. We talked about the fact that she kicked in the door at the age of 14, taking a UTA vote. You know what I'm saying. That's like that's the inception of who she is.
Speaker 2:But the fact that Grammy was able to go back and take a look at that, look at her legacy as a whole and see her influence Because her influence to me is bigger than the capital or the music of women's stuff Just the influence itself gave birth to MC Lyte. You know what I mean. The bigger names per se in real hip-hop, but the fact that she was able to get recognized by the Grammys and also get this Lifetime Achievement Award, it's a beautiful thing. Queens get the money. Shout-out to Lolita Lolita Gooden, lolita Shante Gooden, the legend man. I'm happy for her man. I'm happy for her. I'm happy that she's getting this nod. I'm happy she's getting her flowers. And again, we don't say her name amongst the pantheon of women in hip-hop, but the fact that she's actually getting this nod, it's a beautiful thing. So salute to the Grammys for doing this, for the Lifetime Achievement Award for Miss Chauncey.
Speaker 1:You said that eloquently, bro. I don't have too much to add. But we can take it beyond. You know what I'm saying? Just inspiring the women. You know what I'm saying? It's well documented that she inspired Nas, who we feel like is the greatest rapper of all time. So you know, it don't just have to be limited to her inspiration and her contributions to female MCs. We may not get Nas if she doesn't challenge him to be the MC that she knew he could be at an early age. Shout out to Roxanne because, like Sean said, it's deeper than rap. It's deeper than the catalog. Her inspiration span for generations in this rap stuff.
Speaker 2:Congratulations to Shante. She's Nas or G, so that tells you a lot, right there right.
Speaker 3:Yep, I think in hip-hop terms I just want to kind of leave it like right here. This might be the most impressive thing I think the Grammys have ever done. I was super surprised. I was like they know who Roxanne Shantae is. I'm like I was impressed by the committee for recognizing her. Guys. She's being honored with Dr Bobby Jones, prince and Frankie Beverly. That's a heavy list. She on a hitter list.
Speaker 4:You know what I'm saying. Prince Frankie Beverly Bobby that's big time right.
Speaker 3:So like shout out. Actually, you know, we give them a lot of flack, give them a lot of disrespect. I know I've been extremely disrespectful and I don't apologize. But when they do something right, with the same way that we turn our nose up and turn our fingers down, we need to give them a round of applause. When they get it right, and they got it right this time, it's a round of applause, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, got you, got you. She's a whole legend man, whole legend, walking around here.
Speaker 1:Gotta on that salute that Present day she's an educator, correct?
Speaker 2:She is. She's actually on Rock the Bells. She has a show on Rock the Bells. I talked to her a few times. She be dropping jewels and gems, man, yeah.
Speaker 3:She was always an educator. She was always an educator.
Speaker 1:That's what I was going to get to, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's just official now. It's just official, yep.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man, I think we got a couple of music anniversaries, fellas, I think. The first one we have Is Camp Lowe's Uptown Saturday Night, which was released January 28, 1997. Fellas, this is my freshman year of high school. I think this might be, guys. I think this might be the most underrated rap classic of all time. I think you can make an argument for it, because I don't think it got classic status until late after it came out. I do think that the Source is 3.5 mic rating for it, which was completely off. They missed a whole mic, but I think it might be the most underrated rap album of all time, guys, how do you feel about that?
Speaker 1:That's plausible. I see your vision. For me it's Do or Die. I've always maintained that that's the most underrated classic, but Neck and neck, neck and neck. But yeah, uptown Saturday Night, man is crazy, luchini, like you know what I'm saying, luchini, and the annals of hip-hop is one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time you know what I'm saying Might be top what? Definitely top 100, wouldn't you say? Yeah, I think it's top 50. It might be top 50. It might be top 50.
Speaker 3:It's on the borderline, it's up there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a special record.
Speaker 1:Yeah and Hooli Ha, another dope joint. But one thing about it, man, I don't know if a lot of people talk about it, but for that era, sonny Tiba and Geechee Sway, man, they had some of the smoothest flows in the game. Like you know what I'm saying. Their flow patterns and stuff that they used man was so immaculate man, it was just silky smooth man. And I don't think nobody, when we're talking about you, know the best flows of the 90s and that era. I think they get overlooked, both of them. They both were up there, in my opinion, but this is definitely a classic album.
Speaker 3:Sean, you want to wax?
Speaker 2:I'm going to be honest. Fellas, this is going to sound crazy. I wasn't feeling this when it came out. I'm going to be honest.
Speaker 1:Was it the production? In my opinion, he killed it. It was everything. I'll be honest Was it the production? In my opinion, he killed it, it was everything.
Speaker 2:I'll be honest. This came out January 97, right, I was locked in with Gold Space, iron man. I was locked in with. It Was Written Everything that came around for me. I took a filter through those things to get to that, if I'm being honest. But I've heard Luchini. I didn't like the beat. I thought it was too noisy, I thought it had too much going on and I really again my ears. I was Marissa, my ears are on Wu. I was on that Wu palette at that time and then it was written had just dropped over the summer. I couldn't get, I couldn't get through any of it. I couldn't get around that to enjoy this in real time. I had to go back to this a couple of years later to understand why people was like really, really, you know, giving us so much love Because I couldn't understand it in real time. I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 3:So, sean, what I'm going to tell you is that I actually echo some of your sentiments, because the same thing happened to me, and this is why having the OGs around you is important. Oh no, my cousin Six, who was four years older than me. He swore by this album and every time I hopped in the fucking car with him it was playing, and so I couldn't avoid it. I couldn't avoid it, and one day I can remember I forgot where we were coming. We were probably coming from the east side of Charlotte, off Independence and North Sharon Anthony, and headed back to West Boulevard and we rode and it was late. He had bought a bottle of Malibu and let me drink.
Speaker 3:I'm like fucking 16, 15, 16 years old, and I listened to that shit and I'm like cuz. I'm like this shit is great. He's like, I know. He's like. I've been playing it for two months non-stop. It's the first time your stupid ass has said something about the album, nigga. So I was in the same boat as you. It's just my cousin, my cousin Like. I thank him for all of my hip hop knowledge because he forced everything down my throat, even if I refuse to listen to it. This is one of those albums and one day I popped up and realized I was like this album is fucking genius yeah, for real.
Speaker 2:I had to go back. Genius yeah, for real. I have to go back to it, like I had to understand why people was giving so much love to it. I can't understand it. No, it's like that I'm somewhere else. The beats are crazy, sean.
Speaker 3:The beats are crazy. It is AG to your Do or Die point. The reason why I give Cooley High the edge over Do or Die is because think about the three singles from the album and you tell me you did a better job at making the singles. These guys actually were hit makers Luchini, cooley High and Uptown Saturday Night. The record. They had four records. That shit was banging.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you brought up the singles Coop, because I was going to bring up singles in another conversation. So it's a very important thing to talk about, especially when we're talking about that era. But, Sean, I was going to say this like and I'm not trying to be funny or nothing, but you know I'm learning this about you. I think that's like the, the way you explained it. I think that's a you thing, not more so. The album just not being it. It seems like you know, when we talk about these album anniversaries, like once you're locked in on something and you're like really locked in, you don't really steer away from that to tap into nothing else. You might go back to it later, but once you're locked in with one thing, you kind of like stay there in that wheelhouse, correct, yeah?
Speaker 2:because music to me timestamps where I was mentally right, where I was mentally, where I was, you know, physically, whatever the case may be, I can timestamp places in my life on what I was consuming music-wise. And when I think about that year 97, early 97, I was this that was like the pivotal year for me in high school. That's a pivotal year for me at that time because I'm dead set on for me at that time, because I'm dead set on Iron man at this time, ghost. At this point I'm thinking that Ghost in my mind, ghost is my number two MC of all time. You see what I'm saying. So I'm still listening to everything from Iron man. I'm still listening to. It Was Written, it's all in full rotation for me, Sean, can I ask you a personal question?
Speaker 3:Just because you are such a big Ghost fan, how can you be such a big Ghost fan and be with the slanguistics like that and not love what Camp Lowe's doing? Lou Cheney is crazy. How is the rap listener that loves Ghost not attracted to Camp Lowe? Is the rap listener that loves Ghost not attracted to Camp Lowe? Because the rap listener and me that loves Ghost and Ray and even Kappa guys is like oh no, Camp Lowe's from that same linguistic tree. It's just more uptown Harlem blaxploitation talk than that grimy.
Speaker 1:Staten Island Well Ghost. And Ray onimy, staten Island Well Ghost. And.
Speaker 3:Ray on some Staten Island Brooklyn shit Can't Blow is definitely on some uptown Harlem shit. You know what I'm saying. For sure, to quote Capadonna, the slang editorial.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, but see Koopi in real time. I didn't even know that you made me worry when I said slang editorial.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, but see Coopie in real time. I didn't know that Just saying slang editorial made the car drift to the right. That's a dope quote, slang editorial.
Speaker 2:But see Coop, that's the thing. I didn't give it a chance. I didn't give it a chance, I didn't know all of those things until like a year later. Because again, what else came in 97? Jay came out in 97. War Report came out in 97.
Speaker 3:Jay Rakim the Firm Puff Wyclef Voo.
Speaker 1:But look, though, to y'all's point. That's why your inner circle is important. Like Coop spoke to you know what I'm saying his older cousin, putting him on which I had older cousins as well, put me on to certain things as well. But my own age group and my own inner circle of friends, we would divide and conquer. I'm talking about like records. Something was dropping.
Speaker 1:Every week we would go to the record store, and you know, we had a little allowance in our part time jobs or what have you, and we had so many money, but so much stuff was coming out. We would divide and conquer. We was like yo, these five albums drop. I'm definitely paying my money on this one, but I'm kind of iffy on this one. You cop that one, we cop the Memorex. You know I'm saying 90,. You know I'm saying 120 minute joints. I'm a 90,. You know what I'm saying 120 minute joints.
Speaker 1:I'm going to dub you this. We'll swap. You know you dub me that joint, and we can have all the albums that come out at the same time, even if we only got enough money to buy one album. I'm going to the record store five or six deep, and we each pick up one joint, and all the other joints is getting dubbed. That's how we wrote. I'll tell you straight up. I was on this album in real time, but did I own the physical copy of it? No, I did not. What I had was a dub. But you know what I'm saying. That's how I heard all the music back then. We divided and conquered.
Speaker 3:Hold on. So AG is right. So I want to piggyback off of that.
Speaker 3:I never bought a Tupac or Scarface or Wu-Tang album till me and Six lived in separate places because he had all of that shit already. It's like what do I need to buy a Tupac album for? This nigga got a Tupac album. I didn't have to buy Pac until we lived in separate hoods and that was when All Eyes On Me came out. I was like I gotta go buy All Eyes On Me. I said, because this thing is on West Boulevard and I'm on Beatty's Ford, we did the Divide and Conquer shit too I would intentionally not buy stuff because I knew he was going to buy it. I didn't need to go buy Bone Album, cuz was going to go buy Bone Album, all that hieroglyphics and far side shit. I never had to go buy that stuff. He was going to buy it. I was like I'll just wait for this nigga to. We only 15 minutes away, we still on the west side, we in the same hood, you know what I'm saying. We just in different parts of the hood.
Speaker 2:Not my crew.
Speaker 3:We were all not as.
Speaker 2:God, that's that New York shit Peace. God, that's how he was on man Like yo studying 120.
Speaker 1:Sean? No, he ain't. Sean was failing mathematics in the 5% of the nation and in school, sean was failing mathematics in the 5% of nation and in school, sean was failing mathematics all the way around oh man, you forgot.
Speaker 2:Wu-tang Forever came out that same year. I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 3:Wu-Tang Forever is what had my attention that year. But you gotta keep in mind this is January. This is six months before Wu-Tang Forever.
Speaker 1:Wu came out towards the summer. But again, when did?
Speaker 2:before Wu came out, towards the summer, yeah, but again when Iron man came out.
Speaker 4:Yeah, iron Man's.
Speaker 2:August.
Speaker 3:Hold on Well, Iron Man's August 96.
Speaker 1:Because we live with albums longer. So you're still playing Iron man early 97 for sure.
Speaker 3:Nigga, I played Iron man three weeks ago.
Speaker 4:I played Iron man three weeks ago, nigga, I played Iron man three weeks ago.
Speaker 3:I played Supreme Clientele two days ago. Nigga, we need to have a whole Supreme Clientele conversation soon.
Speaker 1:Why are we on Uptown Saturday night, though? Are we going to have the Jay conversation? I think that's necessary around the album.
Speaker 3:We can go ahead and close it out with that. I just I'm gonna let you take that AG. I just want to close out by saying that this is a four and a half Mike album.
Speaker 1:That's fair.
Speaker 3:Four and a half.
Speaker 1:That's fair, but it's a lot of four and a half Mike albums that we call classics in some sense.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying so that's the thing. So. So for me, a class album don't necessarily need to be a five to be a classic. Because I could, I can go to some of our best. I'd like I can go to nwa straight out of compton and we can start, you know, picking nits and shit. You know what I'm saying. If that's what you really want to do, at the end of the day, I can go to get richard dine and pick some nits and be like, well, that shit on the back end of the album is mixtape shit that niggas in the street had already heard. So you know what I'm saying. How are we going to give them a five? Yeah, we're going to take the five away because 50 put some mixtape songs on there. Like, really, that's what we're doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, If he was really plugged in. I think you consider this a classic.
Speaker 3:But you know, if you just say it, I'm mad at that. When I listen to the beats and the rhymes and the style and the fact that you were about to wax poetic about how they inspired Jay-Z himself, it's hard for me to say that the album ain't a motherfucking classic.
Speaker 1:AG, yeah, and the production was there. You know Ski Beats did his thing. And then Ski had the connection with Rockefeller and a lot of people don't know. You know fun fact, um Phil, fun fact Filling it didn't make that.
Speaker 1:There was a version of Filling it over, the Filling it beat that was supposed to be for Camp Low on that album and then Jay ended up getting that beat from Ski and he ended up his whole style on Filling it. You know flow pattern, everything. He kept the same hook, same beat. You know what I'm saying? Shout out to Mecca on the hook, all that. And he stole I think it was Geechee Swayze's flow, I believe on the fill in that record Stole his flow and kept it the same.
Speaker 1:And he wanted the Luchini beat too, but Ski wouldn't give it up. He kept it for Camp Low. And then the word is this is out of their mouth they said that Jay offered seven grand for the Luchini beat but Ski still wouldn't even give it up to him. But he did end up getting feeling it out of those sessions and you can go on YouTube and look it up. But it's a version of feeling it that Camp Lowe had first and Jay-Z used his flow style on that. It's not the first time that's happened, but of course he did so. It's not the first time that's happened, but of course he did so. Do you got anything to add to?
Speaker 3:that Sean no.
Speaker 4:No, no, no.
Speaker 3:Don't let Sean add the shit about Jay-Z. We need the subscribers. No, no, no. We need the subscribers. Don't let Sean add anything. Sean's done, let's move to the next topic no, no, no, let's go to the Super Chats and let's go to the locks.
Speaker 4:We are the streets. Please, let's not give sean any jay-z airtime.
Speaker 1:We need not pull up the chat. You see it. Yo shout out to christopher hogan with the fly ball super chat. Appreciate you, um, let's see jamil. Um nam x is another dope lyricist. Y'all should tap in with new orleans in the building. Salute y'all. I hope I said that right, because I'm not familiar with who that is. You know who that is, sean. You know what I'm saying. You be on NL, okay.
Speaker 2:I just got back from the NL this morning. I know who that is.
Speaker 1:How do you say that?
Speaker 2:Jameel Jameel, jameel Naeem.
Speaker 1:Naeem Na J-Mill Naimax. Yeah, Okay, there's 007 pulling up. Glad you're here, bro. $2 Super Chat Queens get the money. That's for you, Sean.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Double O.
Speaker 3:CJ the.
Speaker 1:Kid.
Speaker 4:Me and Double O about to link up again soon.
Speaker 1:It's about to be another extravaganza CJ the Kid with the $5 Super Chat. If Elliot Wilson gave me that three and a half mics, the more reason not to trust him. There's a lot of reasons not to trust Elliot. Think about this man.
Speaker 4:Like think about this. They gave an album with Luchini and Cooley High on it Three and a half.
Speaker 1:That's four right there. But I don't think that was Elliot, though Elliot was XXL. That was the source that gave it a three and a half right.
Speaker 4:Oh right, right right, because XXL is 1997. That is the startup, actually.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:LP. Yo, shout out to LP Five dollars. Super chat. Tommy was way more fly than Fedora's bell bottoms. Ghosted Ray represented the style back then, way more than Camp Low. That was their main knock. If you was a street dude you was more into you know what I'm saying Like the street where fly talk like Ghost and Ray was doing. You know what I'm saying. Camp Low was on that fly stuff but it was more so like that player stuff.
Speaker 2:You know, we good, that was the last one AG. Okay, all right, so we got another anniversary. We are the streets.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, Now I'm glad. I'm glad that we just had that conversation about can a four and a half mic album be considered a classic? Because I don't consider this a five mic album by any stretch of the imagination, but for me this is a personal classic.
Speaker 4:I don't think it's a classic. I said personal.
Speaker 1:I don't know where hip-hop holds it, but I have it as a personal classic.
Speaker 4:They messed this one up too, because this is a four instead of a three and a half to me.
Speaker 1:So you think the first one was a three and a half. Money Power Respect was a three and a half.
Speaker 4:Might be a three First one might be a three Might be a three. I'm going to pick up the record like a living guy.
Speaker 1:I think this is a solid four and a half. I give it a four and a half, Mike.
Speaker 2:I think I give it a four. I'm not mad at a four.
Speaker 4:So you think Uptown Saturday Night and we Are, the Streets are the same level. Yeah, okay, see, I don't.
Speaker 1:I prefer to listen to. We Are the Streets between the two, if I had to pick one I'm picking. We Are the Streets.
Speaker 4:I think the bar work is better, but the beats aren't just there. Like how about this? When I look at a joint like Styles on Felony you know what I'm saying I'm like, oh no, styles is killing it. That beat could have been better, I agree. Even hold on which one has recognized Styles is killing it. That beat could have been better, I agree. Hold on which one has Recognize. Recognize is Recognize. The one.
Speaker 2:It's the one we Are the Streets. Yeah, Recognize is in there.
Speaker 4:Preem. That's not the first. We need something better. The first time that we hear Preem in the locks, beat-wise from Preem, I'm just going to hold them to higher standards.
Speaker 1:How do y'all like Wild N' Out as a single? I don't.
Speaker 2:I didn't like that. I didn't like that.
Speaker 1:The club scene back then. That song used to go crazy in this club scene in 2000. Oh yeah.
Speaker 4:Crazy Ride or Die should have been the lead single. It's just easy. It would have went platinum. They should have went and got the money. Puff taught them how to get the money. They could have stayed with the street ethos and still got the money, if you really want to know. If you really want to know the truth. The record that they really should have dropped Is Breathe Easy.
Speaker 1:That's my second favorite song on here. Breathe Easy is crazy. Breathe Easy is the best record on there. Can I Live is my third favorite, but my favorite easily Is F FU Out the gate. I think that's Swiss's best performance, beat-wise.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1:And Bar Work what they're all three are doing on there high level. That's one of my favorite joints to start off an album. I know we talk about album intros and whatever, but as soon as you put that on and FU comes on, that's one of my favorite starters to an album to kick it off.
Speaker 2:It is From the hook to the bars the beat everything.
Speaker 4:I think it's a better album starter than it is all-time great song, to be honest with you. But I hear what you're saying because, lyrically speaking, that and Breathe Easy might be the best tracks on there. I don't love Swiss production on this album, guys.
Speaker 3:I almost feel like this album to me feels like the stuff that didn't make Flesh of my Flesh.
Speaker 1:It depends on where your expectations are for Swiss work. You know what I'm saying, I think.
Speaker 4:FU is the best that Swiss can do. See, if that's the best thing he can do, that's not good enough for me.
Speaker 1:I don't hold Swiss up that high Swiss, not even sniffing my top 10 producers.
Speaker 2:I think this is where we started seeing Swiss kind of running his course Right here.
Speaker 4:I think you saw him running his course, I'll do that right here, right here, second floor.
Speaker 2:I think you saw him running his course around this album, tom Flay, you're right, f is probably one of his best production-wise.
Speaker 4:Y'all saying that is frightening to me. It's up there, it's up there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we losing you, boo, we're not all right yeah, cool, fading out yeah, I gotta go peace of prayers, bro, yo, prayers to the homie cool. He got some things going on, that's why he was in route to get to the hospital, but keep proving this family your prayers and salute to that brother going through this challenging time. So again, you know, salute to Coop. But yeah, man, I felt like this album. I don't know if I'd give it a four and a half AG. I'd probably give it maybe a four, just because of the energy around it.
Speaker 2:I think the energy to me was the biggest thing for the album to me. Um it just I just I remember listening, I remember reading the actual uh, the report from the source and the source like, really didn't like it. They were saying it was too much focus on, uh, puffy, um, and it was. It was a lot of focus on Puffy, a lot of subs on this album, subs on Puffy. But overall I do think that this album to me it's one of I think it's their best album, easily, easily right. But again, I think this is where Swears was on his way, kind of like hitting that plateau around this album timeframe, because Swears had a pretty massive run. You know he had a lot of hits in the short span of time, but it started running its course. You started hearing the recycling of some of that soundscape that he had, like he wasn't growing as a producer. It was like a recycle period.
Speaker 1:Yeah, by 2002, this album comes out in 2000. By 2002, swizz's signature sound was obsolete. By 2002, going into 2003.
Speaker 2:AJ, I think it was 2001. I think 2001,. Bro.
Speaker 1:He still was getting big placements in 2002, though, you know what I'm saying, jay and Nas were still tapping into him. You know what I'm saying? X, he was still getting looks.
Speaker 2:What was out there in 2002 from Swizz.
Speaker 1:If you're talking about singles, then no, but you know what I mean. He was still getting album placements.
Speaker 2:He had the General. You know that wasn't.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. He had the Godson Bonus, joint the GOD, and then on J-Joint he had the Bonus, the bonus track on the blueprint 2.1, to stop him. These are bonus tracks but still yet they still calling his number.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean yeah, I mean, I don't know, man, I just think that he was hit or miss at that time because, remember, he started going into a whole different path. He dropped his own album. He had like the swiss joints and he started for um, yeah, cassidy he has.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, see, yeah, he was still. You know what I mean the cassidy joint, yep hotel joint with him and kelz.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, he was, it was, he kind of went into that hustler.
Speaker 1:Hustler was big. What year is hustler?
Speaker 2:hustler was big. That was like what 2003 2003, I think, or three yeah.
Speaker 1:So swiss was swiss was still kicking. He might have been on life support but he was like doing his thing, like, but I, you know, I, I think to. To coop's point um, maybe he holds swiss higher in the echelon of um producers than we do. I shout out to the homie trifle. I think that that Swizz is actually Trife's favorite producer of all time. I think Trife had him ranked number one, but yeah, I don't hold him that high. So my expectations. When I hear tracks like FU, I think that that's like yo, this is Swizz at his best. You know what I mean. I'm not saying that the bar is super low, but you know I'm not saying that the bar is like super low, but like, you know what I mean, that's, that's a standout track for him.
Speaker 2:No, doubt, no doubt, no doubt. But yeah, man, I love this, I love this track, I love this album FU is definitely one of those and the energy that the locks brought we are the streets man. It was a good time.
Speaker 1:It was a good time in 2000 to kick the year off I think I think the moment you know, and we'll talk to talk a little bit to this point later, I'm gonna have to agree with y'all. I might have to. I might have to drop my mic rating at least down to a 4.25. You know what I mean, because the moment surrounding this album them leaving bad boy doing the let the locks go campaign you know what I mean it was just a big mess. They finally get out of that situation, go over to Rough Riders, which they already were with the Rough Riders as far as Rough Riders management.
Speaker 1:But they made it official and got to do this album and I think it was a lot of expectations. Their soundscape changed, you know what I mean. It was more gritty, it was a lot of expectations. Their sound, their soundscape changed, you know what I mean. It was more gritty, it was more street. But I think that for the expectations of what they were to live up to, the album didn't deliver that. You know what I mean. So that goes to your point. You know what I mean. So I would have to be an objective. Drop my mic rating a little bit on that. It was a lot going on.
Speaker 2:It was a lot going on at that time because, again, Rough Riders was on. It wasn't a massive run. X was the lead dog, no pun intended, so they had a lot going on during that time.
Speaker 2:And again, the expectation for this album was massive because you felt like you were going to get a true street album from the lots which you got. But again, some of these singles you got ride or die chick. I just I didn't like that single because if you're going to get away from the shiny suit era, I don't think you should come out with a single, a lead single in ride or die chick with Timbaland and that kind of beat from Timbaland.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cause that's in that same wheelhouse. You know what I mean. But, we'll get to this a little later too. You know we was there in real time, sean, and as dope as the Locks are as a group and as anticipated as they were, year 2000, people was. The buzz for Jadakiss' solo album was just as loud as the buzz for Locks' group album.
Speaker 2:It was crazy, it was crazy, it was crazy, it was crazy. Let's get this super chat. I like where you're going with that.
Speaker 1:We got Chief. What up? Chief? Yo shout out to Chief. You know what I'm saying? Chief, be going crazy. In the Discord Chief said I'm back, y'all.
Speaker 4:And I'm black, y'all, and I'm blackity black, and I'm black.
Speaker 3:Y' Wow man.
Speaker 1:You're crazy man. Yo, the Razorhead with the $2 Super Chat Was Styles P, the best MC on we Are the Streets. I'm going to say no, I don't.
Speaker 2:He was the blunt force on the album the enforcer the enforcer.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be honest, like I just said, people were starving for a Jada Kid solo album and Jada was evidently the best on that album. I think clearly. But it was something about Sheik's verses on that album. Man, there's so many standout Sheik verses on that album. Sheik was my favorite in the Bad Boy era. Then in the Rough Riders era Jada leapfrogged him and Jada's been in my top five. I'm going to say that on this show many a times. I will say, even though Jada's better on that album, I just like the way Sheik was just killing the verses on there. He was that I don't know, he just had a flair. Even though Jada was better lyrically, I think Sheik's verses had more flair to them on we Are the Streets. Oddly enough, I would put Styles last.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was in the pocket, definitely in the pocket. Raising head.
Speaker 1:Raising head. Appreciate you, bro. This album came out before DMX. If this album came out before DMX, it don't work.
Speaker 2:The same. That's a good point. I mean that's a really good point because X was consuming so much of the market at that time. Even the soundscape, everything that X was doing, I mean you're talking about is dark, you know what. Ninety eight, you got ninety eight again with F flesh in my flesh 99. You got what? And then there was x.
Speaker 1:yeah, but I look at it as the inverse. Though I look at it as the inverse, I never looked at it like that. That's a crazy way to look at if it came out before dmx, but x is already on the scene for two years by the time this comes out. Right, yeah, I looked at this like what would this album be with an X feature? Because if you're making your Rough Riders debut, x is the only name missing from the feature list on here. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:It is, it is. Yeah that's a good point. That's a good point.
Speaker 1:This album might look totally different if they now granted they had X on the first album. Money Power Respect was the best cut on that first record. If they get another solid X feature on this joint.
Speaker 2:But what version of X are you going to get at this time? This is 2000. X was still X in 2000, bro it was, but X was also kind of going into that movie stuff and he also had other things going on too. God bless the dead. You know what I mean. Remember, we didn't hear back to X again until 2001.
Speaker 1:They still needed an X-verse.
Speaker 2:They did, but I'm just saying, what version though.
Speaker 1:I don't care what version they needed an X-verse, I don't care what version they needed that, but did you ever think about in real time, didn't you think that was like? You know, maybe it was scheduling stuff or whatever, but you know this is putting a stamp. You know I'm saying like you waving the rough riders flag and their main guy is not featured on your on the album.
Speaker 2:I thought that was funny in real time, in real time, to think about it. I'm be honest with you, because I I guess I wasn't checking for an x feature, because it wasn't. I felt like it wasn't needed. In real time, talking about it right now, I'm thinking like maybe it, maybe he had needed a x feature, you know I mean, but let's look at what, let's look at what came before that.
Speaker 1:On um money power respect, you got the title track Money Power Respect. Classic record yes, absolutely. On X's debut record you got what Niggas Don't Start or something right, classic, classic record right. On Blackout, I mean on Flesh, you got Blackout correct.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, it was golden.
Speaker 1:And not to mention, we don't give a. You know what I'm saying. That too with Jada, all right, Classic record and for hours to live. Another classic record, correct? Yeah, string of classic records. If they get another one of those, we are the streets we might be having a different conversation today. One track like that could bump up an album from a four to a four and a half or a five.
Speaker 2:I agree, I agree, I agree, I don't disagree at all.
Speaker 1:I just thought that was weird in real time man.
Speaker 2:In real time. I just didn't think about it until we were talking about it now. So, yeah, that's interesting. That's interesting. That's a good super chat. Damn good super chat. Where do you want to go, man? Do you want to go with the over 40? Or do we want to roll into, like, that expectation thing? Because this kind of like leads into that conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're already here, man, let's stay there so we want to give a shout out to the discord dialogue, straight up the discord, the hip-hop source discord. Yo shout out to the whole crew over there, um, coming up with some great stuff. We, we do, uh, we chat all day, all night. It's like continuous in the discord. We post polls in the discord that you know to just ask questions about different parts of hip-hop and periods of hip-hop, and for this one I thought that you know my ag shared it with me. I'm like yo, this is a good one. So, ag, let's talk about it.
Speaker 1:Man, tell the people we want to talk about yeah, man, I was just taking myself back to that um era because we had a lot of conversation about we are the streets leading into jada kiss's solo album and if it's infamously enough, uh, everybody says jada kiss doesn't have a classic solo album but he came close. A lot of people don't consider to callous a classic solo album out of all the. The first uh wu-tang album run, you know so. But they said he might have came close. And prodigy had a lot of expectations with h and ic um coming off all the mob, deep classics and you know it kind of fell short.
Speaker 1:So I was asking myself and I put the question in the discord um, which artists without a certified classic solo album came the closest to delivering expectations on their debut album. And the choices were Prodigy with H&IC, method man with Takao and then Jadakiss with Kiss the Game Goodbye. And as far as what the Discord voted, jadakiss won at 57%. So they said that he delivered, you know, the most out of the three of them with his solo effort and surprisingly, prodigy came in second with with twenty nine percent and Method man came in last with 14 percent. So what have you to say to that, sean?
Speaker 2:Man. I went back and listened to Cal again today and Kiss the Game, goodbye and H&R C. I'll be honest, man, and I had to think about this a lot on my flight about meth. In real time we never really talked bad about TKAL. I never heard again from my lens, from my seat. I never heard anyone spoke ill about TKAL. I never heard anyone say TKL was anything short of an amazing or great album.
Speaker 2:Years down the line people started comparing it. I think I feel like they were comparing it to Cuban Link, liquid Swords, Iron man, even Return to the 36 Chambers. But when I listen to it again today, ag, I'm like yo, t'kal is not a bad album. It's just the fact that I think T'Kal was an extension musical-wise, not as far as like songs I'm talking about, like just music-wise. It was an extension of Into the 36.
Speaker 2:And because RZA was still in that dark, damp type of production gritty, gritty, very dark album, very dark album, right. And I think the thing that hurts to Cal if you want to say anything, hurt it because I still listening to it today I'm like the only thing that is just not vibrant. It's not a vibrant album, but it also came out in 94, right. I think the thing that probably impacted to Cal was album, but they also came out in 94, right. I think the thing that probably impacted TKAL was the fact that you have Return to the 36 Chambers, which is a vibrant album you have. After that you got Only Been for Cuba Links, then you had Liquid Swords, then you had Iron man.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, return to the 36 after TKAL. Oh I didn't know.
Speaker 2:you said that that's a vibrant album.
Speaker 1:Return to the 36th happens to count.
Speaker 2:That's a vibrant album. Return to the 36th is vibrant, right. It's a lot of personality in that album, right. And then you've got On the Biff and Cuban Links, which we know what that is. And then you got, you know, GZA Liquid Swords. We know what that is. Then you turn around and got Iron man. So now RZA is getting better and better at production and getting better and better at orchestrating a phenomenal album from front to back, and I think that's what gave TKL that blow. You know what I'm saying yes, Because in real time nobody's saying anything bad about TKL. I really don't.
Speaker 1:No, I'm glad you spoke on that, because it was a victim of what came after it, not necessarily before it. You know what I mean, because people were saying that after the other albums came. Here's how I look at Takao. Remember when in the dunk contest I want to say it was 98, maybe JRRotter did the East Bay Funk Dunk between the legs, right, and we was like, oh shit, that's crazy, that's pretty impressive. He could do that.
Speaker 1:But then years later, cat started you know what I'm saying. They had that to build off of and was doing between the legs like windmills and between the legs like backwards. And you're like you know building up what you know, building off of what he did, and like his dunk don't even look crazy, no more, because you know people had a little bit more flair and put a little more extra. Uh, you know I'm saying mustard on, you know I'm saying so. I think. I think that was to count. You know what I mean. Like it was, it was dope for the time, but every chamber that came after that it just kept building and building and building and it was just like you look like you look at you, look at Takao and you just like Takao's not that impressive, you know, but in real time, like you said it was, it was dope. But I think it's another thing that speaks to why Takao is not a classic, because I think it's common knowledge and I think Cooper spoke to to this.
Speaker 1:You know before too, meth is a better Feature, one of probably the best feature Rapper of all time, if not he's top Two or three. Right, he is a better feature rapper Than he is at making his own Projects. So, within the confinement of the clan, like I can pull any you know Shadow boxing, whatever you know what, I can pull any. You know shadow boxing. Whatever you know what I'm saying, any, any clan record that he's a feature on overshadows anything he's put out. So I'll say that.
Speaker 2:Yes, because to cow the. The pallet of the cow doesn't fit, met the man's personality over the years, right, Because the cow is dark, dark, dark. So the palette of T'Kal doesn't fit Method Man's personality over the years, right, because T'Kal is dark, dark.
Speaker 1:So are you saying that T'Kal is more RZA during that time?
Speaker 2:Absolutely RZA. You can tell RZA had the influence all over T'Kal at that time. Because, again, it's an extension of the darkest moments of 36. Into Wu 36. It's an extension of the darkest parts of 36. Into Woo 36. It has. It's an extension of the darkest parts of that. So now, if RZA is in that chamber, if you will, he's giving that to meth, which meth is a colorful. He's a colorful MC.
Speaker 1:Can I ask you this? I think that T'Kal's darker than 36. Do you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, that's what. I'm saying it's RZA got into like that chamber and he stayed there because you go back and you listen to the joints. Even if you listen to um, all I need with street life on it the original. It's like a. It's an old day, but that song is pretty dark still, or shorty. Yeah, I played it for my wits at a young age.
Speaker 1:Like hey, yeah, that's why they had to liven it up a little bit, you know.
Speaker 2:That's when I started calling my wits. You know what?
Speaker 1:I'm saying Matt's trying to spit while you're having a blank, no-pupil contact then and go things in your mouth is crazy.
Speaker 2:So I mean again, if we can switch pace real quick and go to HNIC, if you don't mind. I think it lends credence to HNIC, like the palette was different for P Because this came out in 2000. You know what I mean. And you're talking about coming off the heels of the success of their most successful album as a group, right, money-wise, you know, sales-wise, went platinum. So you get murder music and you and I talked about this behind the scenes a couple of days ago when you was telling me like yo remember, you reminded me, remember Quiet Storm was supposed to be the lead single on H&R C. That would have changed everything on H&R C Big facts, everything. But it would also change everything on Murder Music.
Speaker 1:Good point, right? Yeah, things work out how they're supposed to a lot of times, and that would you know. That was their most successful album on the strength of that record, as the first single on the back of that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely, because we thought we was looking for, and rest in peace, prodigy man. Queens, get the money. We were looking for that version of P to populate on HNIC based on what was going on in Murder Music. But, ag, the crazy thing is, hold on. We got a super chat, bro. Yeah, I want you to share something you shared with me behind the scenes the Raising Head.
Speaker 1:Appreciate the $10. Super chat Meth had almost unrealistic expectations because it sandwiched Paul's in between two classic Woo albums. It's almost impossible for him to sound like the cream hook for a whole album. That's a very good point. Yeah, very valid point.
Speaker 2:But was there expectations for Meth at that time?
Speaker 1:Well, let's go through each individual album and then we'll compare them as a whole. Yeah, let's do that. Let's stay on HNIC for right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you told me that because you were talking behind the scenes about the timing of HNIC. We was thinking what if it would have came out in 98, right before Murder Music? Do you think that would have changed everything with HNIC?
Speaker 1:Yes, right before murder music. Do you think that would have changed everything? With h and I c? Yes, and for prodigy as a solo artist? Yes, it probably would have been for the better. But I think you bring up an interesting point like what does that do for murder music? Yeah, you know what I mean. So it's it's like a, you know, maybe in a multiverse a different, you know timeline. Maybe we see what that looks like, but I think things worked out how they were supposed. Maybe in a multiverse, a different timeline, maybe we see what that looks like, but I think things worked out how they were supposed to. Because would I trade a better Prodigy solo album for maybe a watered-down murder music? No, I would not.
Speaker 2:But see, that's the thing. If H&IC comes out in 98, a year before Murder Music, that takes the sales out of Murder Music right.
Speaker 1:Right, because that was their most successful record.
Speaker 1:So what's the disconnect with Murder Music, I mean with H&IC, then Production was changing around that time, the palette of certain sounds and stuff, but we talked about this too. Prodigy didn't tap into what made him good and when you want to talk about dark, you know sound and production, that's what he fits best on. And you're doing a solo record with like 20 some tracks and you only got two from Havoc and four from Alchemist, who's up and coming at that time. That's not going to get the job done, you know.
Speaker 2:But you don't have a Nas feature on HNIC.
Speaker 1:So probably a reason for that.
Speaker 2:We didn't know that, though right, not in real time that we didn't know that, though right, because Not in real time?
Speaker 1:no, we didn't know that they were on the outs.
Speaker 2:The same thing that you said about DMX and you named all the phenomenal songs that X and Lox were on together. X wasn't on we Are the Streets. Same thing for Nas and P. This was probably one time that Nas and P, this was probably one time that Nas and P would have had an actual song together, but no one else included no other feature on it, just them two. Like you said, at the time we didn't know that there was some smoke behind the scenes. We didn't know that there were some issues. I didn't pick up on it until hearing the song 3 with Kormega. You know the song with Kormega. It's interesting. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:But it's still all you know. Rewind back to that time and I'm glad we're here. Rewind back to the time it was rumblings to that, but it was still confusing. You know what I mean, because I think they put on for the bridge, because I remember, you know, being on the the in the hip-hop blogs and you know, and people was talking about like turmoil, queen's bridge, and you know it was well known about nas and mega, and then you know some tension with prodigy and stuff, and then, uh, mega and nature's tension or whatever, but then qb's finals come out and everybody's in the bridge 2001 together. You know it's like pretty much like the bloods and crips tying their flags together and you know, like putting their difference to the, you know to the side, to put on for the city. So, um, that that confused, that confused me and it confused a lot of people. Because once we saw that we was like, oh, everything's all good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, again, we didn't know in real time, you just didn't know it. But you just noticed that Nas wasn't on a Prodigy album in 2000. And again, we can sit back and go back and forth and say what was the disconnect with H&R C, but the overall production was the thing that killed it. I think the singles killed it as well. You don't have a single that's going to like really get you to like tap into.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you said that, but I'm going to save my point for after we go through all the albums. But but you know, that's one of those things where we could play, like you know, um, like as far as you know, monday morning quarterback and say, well, we would have did this or did that or whatever. You know I'm saying it's very well that self-conscious could have been on h and ic, that's true. That's true, you know, it was in that wheelhouse. It could power rap freestyle could have been on h and ic. That would have elevated the album.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But you know they were reserved for the compilation. So I mean, it's a lot of things that you can change or, you know, swap out to make that album better, but it just didn't happen the way we wanted it to. And Prodigy, he had high expectations, man, we was waiting on that and you know, I want you to speak a little bit about, like you know, jay, using that opportunity to attack.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. We got a couple of super chats.
Speaker 1:Jermaine L Johnson. Peace bro with the follow-up super chat. Appreciate it. Cream is not a classic hit anthem without Meth coming up with the hook. Ray and Dec were the MCs, but Meth was the glue that made that song. Absolutely, that's a big factor. Absolutely, cj, the Kid with the follow-up super chat. Appreciate it, cj. Remember AG Destroy and Rebuild was after the Bridge 2000. Beef was still in play, yeah, but what I was speaking to when this is in real time, when at two the turmoil was going on in 2000, but we didn't know it in real time. We were hearing about it sean probably more closer to it than me because you know he's from new york but we were hearing about it. But seeing the bridge 2001 video where everybody's in the video together made it seem like all was good at that point.
Speaker 1:I was like wow, nodding for mega cool. Now you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:The thing about it is like a lot of people knew something was still up. That was like more so for the show, right, because you're talking about Less than a year and a year the year time frame of everything really coming to the surface. I think the whole thing around destroying Rebuild was more around just the fact that it caught people off guard. When he said P, you know what I mean when he mentioned P by name, because I don't think no one really knew for sure for sure that there was some issues going on. You know what I mean. No one knew for sure for sure that there was some issues going on. You know I mean no one knew for sure. You kind of heard some mumblings but you couldn't, you couldn't quantify that, you couldn't say, oh yeah, they got some smoke over there. You knew there was something back and forth to him and mecca. You knew that even when it pieced up, it was still something going on there regardless, because certain things were said that you just can't take back within a couple months.
Speaker 2:You got to build, you got to build that thing back, and the good thing is they have built it back over the years now, right. But during that time it's hard to build those things back, when things were said and things were done and you got different crews on both sides 40th side and 41st side flashing already. So you got all that stuff going on at the same time. And in the middle of that, you know P trying to jot off a position too, because P trying to be the next man, because everyone is telling P, you better than the sun or you just as good as sun. And Jay saw that. He saw the success of Quiet Storm and what Murder Music was doing.
Speaker 2:And Mob Deep finally got that platinum album. And Peavy said it'd be like yo, we finally got that platinum. So now it's time for me to do my thing. Jay was holding tight until that happened. When HNIC came out and didn't do that, jay was like oh what? You? Ain't you barely going gold. I got you Take over the break's over. That's when the takeover coming up.
Speaker 1:You remember the bar, my soul. My album sold with your whole album sold in his first week.
Speaker 2:Because he knew at that time you're not messing with me. You're not messing with me Because again everything was going off of record sales, right, the record sales were the determining factor of the interest of the artist.
Speaker 2:It is today, but it's skewed more today than it was back then. It was physical practice, but back then it was like the interest in that artist is based on record sales and Jay knew that you better go and go on your solo joint. All right, okay, I got it. Take over the break's over, you know, I mean and that's what you get. I don't think you get the takeover like that. If H&IC would have done like massive numbers and great numbers, to be quite honest, I just don't know if you would get the takeover.
Speaker 1:I agree. I think it's a twofold thing. I don't think we get it if H&IC is what it is or Nostradamus is what it is. And which brings me to the next point. I'm going to share what we texted about the other day, because I listened. This is going to be controversial H&IC all week.
Speaker 1:You know, for the past few days, for 20 plus years, 24 years I always maintained that that was a four-mic album. After listening to it a lot over the past few days, I had to drop the rating to a 3.5. I really did and I was like this is not a four-mic album, it's definitely a 3.5. I really did and I was like this is not a four mic album, it's definitely a 3.5. Um, you know, coop was surprised by my rating of we are the streets. I think we are the streets is way better than h and I see.
Speaker 1:But, um, I asked sean a question because I was like it was kind of like a revelation. I was like man, if h and and I sees only three and a half, I personally ranked Nostradamus a three and a half and I was like this is the. This is the burning question. I was like is what's better between H and I see, and not Nostradamus. For me I said Nostradamus. Sean, you don't have to reveal what your answer was, I'm bold enough to say it, but for me it was Nostradamus. I was like, if I got to pick between the two man, I think Nostradamus can take out H&IC in the versus, or something like that.
Speaker 2:It'll be an interesting one. It'll be tough. It'll be tough. It'll be tough, honestly, man, because we wanted so much from H&IC. I mean even the first promo. Remember the first promo piece, sitting in a, in like a. It was like a glass.
Speaker 1:Like the George Gervin joint, the like the ice, the ice throne.
Speaker 2:Ice throne, you know what I mean, with the Air Force Ones on great Air Force Ones, iconic. We saw all of this, we saw this coming at the pipeline and we were like yo, p about to do something special. Because the buzz and again and I know we're going to talk about this here to wrap it all up but the buzz for P was years in the making, right, because you're talking about I'm not even counting Juvenile Hill, I'm talking about when Mob was Mob, right, I'm talking about Infamous on. So you're talking about 90, what? 95? Up until 2000. You got five years anticipation from the first time. He said I got you stuck on the real and this would be the Infamous.
Speaker 2:There was an appetite for P right From the masses. You got a five-year buildup to get to that. Method man had less than a year of buildup to anticipate a solo project. So he didn't. There was not. If Method, if Takao would have came out in a different palette, different soundscape, maybe 96, maybe Old Dirty came out the chamber first, I don't know. You know, return to the 36, right, and Meth come out, 96, maybe would have had a different conversation about it, because maybe by that time Rizzo would have meddled out a little bit. You know something different. Rizzo's on them shrooms. He's heavy man, but maybe he would have given something different. But the same thing for P AG. P had a five-year build-up.
Speaker 1:Not only the years I'm glad you took it here because I was going to take it here later but not just years, let's look at what's in front. You said method man. Only everybody has something that led up to their solo album. Meth had one certified classic that preceded his album right and granted it's 36 chambers, which for me is the top five album all time, but still all time you know one album, even if you don't count juvenile hell yeah, the infamous hell on earth.
Speaker 1:and murder music all classics agree. All classics Agree, absolutely All right. That's three classic albums prior to your solo debut. Then Jada had Money, power, respect and we Are the Streets which, like I said, even though we Are the Streets, is a personal classic for me. I can admit neither one of those albums are certified classics, right, and he has some dope features or whatever. So if you look at that landscape between the three, I think he had the most pressure.
Speaker 2:He had to because you got the infamous right and I know people don't. We talk about Juvenile Hill but let's be honest, nobody would check for Juvenile Hill in real time. A lot of people didn't know Juvenile Hill existed.
Speaker 1:I didn't know it existed until like you know what I'm saying after the Infamous was out.
Speaker 2:It was a bit so much of a big jump between Juvenile Hill and the Infamous. It was ridiculous. It's almost hard to even talk about Juvenile Hill, but you're talking about when P became P, because P was mentioned amongst the pantheon of who's who of hip hop at that time in 95, 96. We were talking about P as being one of the big dogs. He was up there, right. So you got. The only thing different was he was in the group. He was, you know, the other half of a group, but he was holding his own on every feature. He was holding his own on his own. He was doing everything right, was holding his own on his own. He was doing everything right. The anticipation was again. I told you this. I said what if he would have had the soundscape that Fat Joe had with Don Cartagena? Maybe not the exact beats, but somewhat of that direction of 98 with Don Cartagena.
Speaker 1:That would have been crazy.
Speaker 2:Imagine P having that. We're having a whole different conversation.
Speaker 1:But I think the pressure that P had on him would be the equivalent of Andre 3000 saying he's going to drop a solo album after Equemini.
Speaker 2:That's a good point.
Speaker 1:I think it would be that I think P's level of anticipation was that high. That's a good point. I think it would be that I think P's level of anticipation was that high. That's a good point, because you look, you know Equimina, atl and Southern Playalistic that's three classics.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. So P, in front of his solo he had three classics, yes, yeah. So imagine if Andre said that he was going to release a solo after the level of anticipation it would have been and expectations. I think that's what he had on him. So, between these three, even though I agree that Jada delivered the best, he had the highest bar.
Speaker 2:I think I agree. I agree because Jada was getting a lot of cosigns.
Speaker 1:A lot of looks, a lot of dope features.
Speaker 2:He was big cosign J, nas cosign J J cosign Big before he left. That's what I'm saying Big First one up.
Speaker 2:J said he was the one. You got Nas. You got J, everyone before he left. That's what I'm saying. Big First one up. Jay said he was the one right. You got Nas. You got Jay, everyone who's who, who need to cosign you. Kiss got those cosigns straight up and down and again his feature run in between time was ridiculous, everything that he was getting on. He wasn't sparing the bar. He wasn't sparing the bar. He wasn't sparing the bar. He wasn't sparing the moment and he was almost before. I know people talk about Lil Wayne's feature run and kind of him ramping up to the Carter 2 and the Carter 3. We got that in Jadakiss, you know since inception.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean you look at John Blaze, like John Blaze is 98, right, you know what I'm saying. And Fat Joe is Fat Joe. But you got Nas, pun and Ray on the same track and we looking at Jada like yo, Jada is hanging with all them. Yeah, he's young.
Speaker 4:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Young, you talking about what a year in the game by this time? Mm-hmm. A year in the game by this time. Mm-hmm A year in the game. I mean, he's out there, he's sparring with DMX when DMX was the hottest thing on the planet at that time, Right? So he's sparring with him. He's not sparing the bar, so he and again the years you're talking about from what?
Speaker 2:97 up until 2001. He had time. He had time, Although he got a snag with the whole locks and the bad boy separation. He got a snag in there. Jada also checked all the boxes. Pete wasn't checking at that time. Jada was able to hop on a Raya Carey joint, as Coop mentioned before. We was waxing his boots on Jada and Bean's conversation, he was getting on tracks with Mary, tracks with Mariah.
Speaker 1:Jada's very charismatic. For as much as we hold meth up for being charismatic, Jada on a feature is just as charismatic during that time.
Speaker 2:He was doing a little subtleties to make him charismatic, right Smiling like smile, right On the record, you know, being there with Maya, right being there with Mary being there, with Mariah being there, just being able to do kind of bob and weave on everything. He was checking all these boxes. He was giving you the most flawless, gruesome shoot you in your face flows, but he was checking all these boxes. He was giving you the most flawless, gruesome shoot you in your face flows, but he was also catering to the women at the same time. So he and he was on mixtapes at that time and he was on that time.
Speaker 1:So let's go ahead and transition there, like you know, with the mixtapes. Like you spoke about going in to kiss the game goodbye, I've already said on this channel multiple times me and low argued about it on stage ahead and stuff. He tried to tell me that that, jesus, tm 101 is better than kiss the game goodbye is. It's better and it's a classic by the standard that jesus had right. You know I'm saying it's classic jesus standard that Jeezy had right. You know what I'm saying. It's classic Jeezy's standard of rapping or what's expected out of him is not Jada Kiss's level of standard or what's expected out of him. Not at all. So if you're saying that TM 101 is better than Kiss the Game Goodbye, let's just put it into proper context based on it was a classic because it hit us out of nowhere and everybody was riding to it and we didn't have that level of expectation. It was a pleasant surprise. Jada. Kids had a level of expectation that few can reach with that, you know, heavy burden on them. So I'm going to ask you I think kiss the game Goodbyes are four and a half album as well. It has everything an album could want. You know what I mean. You got your. We're going to make it as one of the best, all-time great hip hop records of all time.
Speaker 1:Right, or a posse cut. You know, none of y'all better Over Premiere. Y'all talked over Premiere. Y'all talked about recognizing. We are the streets. None of y'all better sits on recognized in my opinion. I agree, I agree. Put your Hands Up is a dope lead single. Knock Yourself Out is a banger club joint. Crazy. Is a dope lead single. Knock Yourself Out is a banger, a club joint. Crazy. You got crazy records collabs like you got Nas spitting like a demon on you know so disciplined.
Speaker 2:Pretty far.
Speaker 1:You got it Once again. Uh-huh when we talk about when the locks get with X classic status right Classic status Classic.
Speaker 2:Status Classic status.
Speaker 1:Jada's solo, first solo album has just about anything and everything you want. I'm going to ask you, sean, what keeps it from being a classic? That half a mic or that mic why does it not get given to Jada on this project?
Speaker 2:Man, I thought about this for years, bro, for years, in real time. I thought it was a classic, and I probably can argue my way into saying it's a classic. If I'm being honest with you, I think it might be bloated. You need some stuff cut, I think. I think it's bloated and I think that's what kind of hurt it, because I'm looking at it right now you're talking about 21 all together, but you got a lot of skits in there, about four skits in there, right. I don't know what could you take off? I think again, if I'm looking at a buffet of a character in NJ, right, nj the Kiss and he's checking all these boxes, I got a girl's song going here, right, I got a hood song going here. I got an anthem song going here. Remember when Put your Hands Up came out that's a B-side record as your lead. Then you're going to turn around and give me Knock Yourself Out, and you're going to dance a cone with it A simple dance, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean not me, but he had people wearing paper towel bandanas. That was a nasty time.
Speaker 2:I didn't use the paper towel, I used the actual towel. I was overseas. They would call me Jada. I was overseas and I had like the towel.
Speaker 1:You had to have the bounty joint, the thick joint, so else you know what I'm saying. Like you're sweating through, the joint fall apart on your head.
Speaker 2:It's like coming apart. So I was using like an actual towel. I was using like an actual towel. I was using like an actual towel and I turned into a bandana.
Speaker 1:But, um, I'm looking at it right now and I don't know I mean cruising, even was a vibe yeah, it was the conclusion I came up with and this makes zero sense when I say it in my head, so I'm going to just say it out loud and you tell me if it makes sense to you. I've always came to the conclusion that you said he checks every box. To me, what keeps it from being a classic is, I think classic records check all those boxes organically. But when I listen to the record it sounds like we got to check this box. We got to have the girl joint. We got to have the club joint. We got to have the West Coast joint. We need the Snoop feature to get the West Coast. We need Fiend to get the down south love. You know what I'm saying. We got. You know what I mean it sounds.
Speaker 1:It's always seemed to me like it was very formulated in his approach, seemed to me like it was very formulated in his approach. Now, sometimes that happens naturally, and who am I to say that? Yeah, I wasn't in the studio, so maybe it was natural. But to me it sounds like all right, we got these, we need one of those, you know. Now we need to go get this. You know what I mean. That, that's how it sounds like but.
Speaker 2:But that's who he is, though. Those are all of the buckets that he has, that's his variety, that's his bandwidth. You know what I mean. It's almost like it's almost to a point where we're penalizing Jadakiss for being.
Speaker 1:What Jay-Z is lauded for.
Speaker 2:Right, we're penalizing that, because Kiss the Game and Goodbye to me is far more superior than all of Jadakiss' other albums, in my opinion. In my opinion I know a lot of people like his second album, his third album.
Speaker 1:It's his best work To me.
Speaker 2:Kiss the Game, goodbye is his best work. It's the closest thing you're going to get to in his personal catalog, to a classic.
Speaker 1:But I think Ignatius' is most like.
Speaker 2:It's personal.
Speaker 1:Right. I think that's his most honest approach, where he wasn't trying to check boxes, he just went in there and rapped and recorded what came naturally.
Speaker 2:Correct. But Kiss the Game to me was always showing the different faces of Jadakiss, the different styles of Jadakiss, the different range that he Because he has so much range. If you go back and listen to Gangsta and the Gentleman to me, which is a phenomenal album that we need to talk about one day, Some would say it's better than J Desjardins. I've heard people say shout out to Corona Queens. Some did say it was better at that time, honestly, because it was him. Authentic, it was authentic. Styles P Good.
Speaker 1:Times is an unconventional hit, but it was a hit.
Speaker 2:It was a hit.
Speaker 1:But it's a lot of weed smokers out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they were going crazy. But, AG, I don't have a skill, I can't think of a true skill on Kiss the Game.
Speaker 1:Goodbye man, I just can't. Let's take off the skits. If you could eliminate two tracks, what are those tracks? Run through the track list real quick in order, because I think I got to remember Jazz Got a Gun which is to me that has to stay.
Speaker 2:It's a great start to an album Show Discipline Stays Top Tier. Knock Yourself Out, you got to have that. Stays Right, we're Going to Make it Classic. Got to Right. Going to make it classic, I do Right. None of y'all better Gotta stay. Come on, stick your. No, that's a skit. I'm a gangster. I'm cutting that one. You can cut that. The parlay Shout out to parlay, nasty girl, you can probably. Yeah, carl Thomas on the hook, it was necessary, but for the time.
Speaker 2:It can be. Yeah, that's big influence. Absolutely, absolutely, put your hands up. Got to say Right On my way, miss Wiz, keep yeah, cruisin' Gotta keep that. But Snoop said I wanna Slap a bitch across the head For missing a shit to a pimp. Yo, snoop was crazy.
Speaker 1:Um, we ain't talking about Snoop right now. Snoop in hot water.
Speaker 2:Kiss of spittin'.
Speaker 4:Yeah, keep it.
Speaker 2:Yeah right.
Speaker 1:Um, I mean that sample is iconicitting. Yeah, keep it. Yeah, right, I mean that sample is iconic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nothing or what. You can probably cut that. Yes, that's another one I'm cutting. It's time I see you.
Speaker 1:That's a posse cut. That's a hard joint. Yeah, you got to keep that.
Speaker 2:Keep that right yeah.
Speaker 1:What you ride for is crazy. Nah, I'm cutting that.
Speaker 4:I get it.
Speaker 1:I get it for the South Reach, but I don't think that's necessary for this Jada album.
Speaker 2:You have Young One on it. You got to have Young One. No, you don't.
Speaker 1:Nobody said you do you got to remember Young One? No, you don't, nobody said you do. Yo, young One was Shout out to Young One on World War III. You know what I'm saying, but you know he did his thing on there, but you could have taken Young One off of World War III.
Speaker 2:You could have put somebody else on there. You could have put Nelly on there.
Speaker 1:That's how I feel about this song. And then the Fiend. You know on that track which Cash Money was. You know what I'm saying. I'm not sorry, not Cash Money, but no Limit was out of here during that time. Yeah, so I understand the move, but for me I'm cutting that song.
Speaker 2:Oh, uh-huh, you gotta keep uh-huh. Gotta keep that. Shout out to Philly. We got that. Philly on that. Shout out to Arrow Shoot to kill, stump me in the south, boot the grill. I give you a reason why I'm the truth for real. Yeah, he went crazy, feel me.
Speaker 1:That's my favorite Jadakiss song. That has to stay.
Speaker 2:Keep your head high, keep your head up. I can probably cut that.
Speaker 1:It's a good closer, but I'm not a big fan of that record, but it's a good closer but I'm not a big fan of that record, yeah not a big fan, but it's a good closer, you know.
Speaker 2:So I mean he was. Maybe the Ralph Ryders formula wasn't the right formula for him on this one, because the ones that we are cutting are the ones that kind of was in that Ralph Ryders wheelhouse, because that was during the time Ralph Ryders was also trying to extend themselves to other areas also let me say this, and I'm glad that this court voted like they did with Jada delivered the most.
Speaker 1:I think this is as close as you can get to a classic without it being a classic, I agree. I mean, it's just right there, but again, man, look, we got a super chance.
Speaker 2:The classic, I agree. I mean it's just right there. But again, man, look we got a couple of super chats. I'm going to ride hard for Jade on this one Pause. Hold on when we at the Raising Head.
Speaker 1:Yo, p's Raising Head. How long was P's run of actually being nice? 95 to 2000?. I'm being nice 95 to 2000. I'm going to give him to 2001. I'm extended to 2001. I don't know if I can 2001. The stuff that he did like QB's finest. Granted, we don't know when all of it was recorded, but he's still rapping at a pretty high level on QB's finest and that's the end of 2000. Yeah, so, um, raise a head. A buffet of Jadakiss parts Sean.
Speaker 2:I want to hear that.
Speaker 1:CJ the Kid appreciate you, bro. General consensus is Kiss of Death is his best and the closest to a classic. Bless you guys, bless you too, CJ. I think it's as close as you can get without it being a certified classic, bro, I think gotta be man like you know.
Speaker 1:You know it was released in the wrong, wrong generation, I swear, because everything was so top tier then and there's no shade to you know. Shout out to cole recently had a birthday, on the 28th. You know if forest hills drive could considered a classic, you know what I mean. Granted, it was big, big movement for his fan base and it was like it shifted the culture a little bit at that time. But if Forest Hills Drive can be considered wildly as a classic, not only at this era but all time, at least by his fan base, then I don't see why Kiss the Game, goodbye, can't.
Speaker 2:That's my point. That's my point. I think it's closer than we want to give credit for, because the not that we're giving him is saying that he's going after other crowds, but he can do that. He's one of the few MCs, few rappers, that can actually cross over into other regions and do those kind of songs.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you this. So it was really. We talked about Method man to Cal, and it was more so. People didn't hail it as a classic because of what came after now. Granted, that was within his camp. This is all 2001. Do you think we look at kiss's album different if the blueprint and still matic don't follow that just a few months later?
Speaker 2:absolutely, you got too much going on 2001. I mean hell, you got dmx. The great depression came out in 2001. I mean hell, you got DMX. The Great Depression came out in 2001 too, didn't it? Yeah, and the Great Depression to me wasn't one of his best, but it was still Pulperized. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And Beanie's the reason. That's my favorite Beanie's album. That came out in 2001 as well, and he was battling Beanie Right. But I think Kiss the Game. Goodbye is the better album between the two. I do too. I think Kiss the Game. The Dynasty came out in 2000. I think Kiss the Game. Goodbye is far better than the Dynasty.
Speaker 2:I do too. I think it's more appealing to me to listen to than that album. 2001 was an interesting year because Jay was like really dominating 2001 because he had some carryover from 2000 into 2001. You're going to have the blueprint on us. So much was going on at that time too. Because even in 2001, what else you had? You had Fab. That came out in 2001.
Speaker 2:Same day as Jay, that was September 11th Same day as Jay, we can say what we want to say about it, but Ja Rule was still. You know, he was still.
Speaker 1:Ja Rule in 2001. I think Jay and Nas is what hurt him, though, because Kid's album is in August yeah. Jay drops a month later, in September, and Nas closes out the year in December in December. Stillmatic and Blueprint as albums are both certifiable and Nas closes out the year in December. In December, stillmatic and Blueprint as albums are both certifiable. Five mics, no questions asked, and it's a different tier. But if those albums don't happen right after, if they get pushed to 2002, I think we're looking at Jada's album a little different.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you this then does that still go right back? We talking about three phenomenal MCs, three phenomenal MCs at their height. No one can mess with them, right? So are we saying just the timing? Did they either jump the window or did they miss the window in their timing? Timing is everything. It's everything, because you're talking about Jada from 97 to 2001,. Right, if Kiss, the Game, goodbye. But I don't know if this sound I'm thinking about the sound of 2001 as well it fit 2001 sound.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think all of them happened when they were supposed to happen, cause meth was the obviously the star of the clan. So they pushed into the forefront, like to say that. I think Coop said it on one of these shows and I disagree with him. Like, oh, they should have had dirty out first. Like method man is a whole solo song on 36 chambers. For a reason, like you know what I'm saying, it was very much the intent of them to showcase meth first. So that happened in the order it was supposed to.
Speaker 1:You posed a question about prodigy in 98 as opposed, you know, before, murder music and I still don't think it goes well for him because coming off the success of murder music gave him more intensity and you know, maybe he would have been able to live up a little bit more to the standard in 98, but they had their highest success coming off of murder music going into a solo album, and that's what you would want. You know, your buzz to be at a high and jada kiss. The same way you get off a bad boy, you transition to be on the label that you want to be on and make the music that you want to make. You know, and they're coming off of. We are the streets the year before leading up to his album. I think all three of those albums happen when they were supposed to no, I, I agree I don't think this is like an inspector deck type situation.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean no, not at all, not at all. I think that to your point you're right, because you can't. If you move things around like that, it's going to throw things back off. If you put HNIC in 98, yes, it would do well, it would do well. But what does that do to murder music? You cannibalized murder music by this time, because now you're talking about taking away probably the biggest song that made murder music what it was. The other thing to that was, remember AG. These albums were getting pushed because murder music also had Quiet Storm on the soundtrack. It was more into deep soundtrack. When you get a song on the soundtrack, what does it do for you? And plus, they play it in a movie. So now you're talking about another booster. Yeah, right, it's being played. They play like two songs, two or three songs off of Murder Music on the Into Deep song in the actual movie itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that can help you or hurt you to your point. Because Keep it Thorough we talked about this before. By the time H&IC comes out for that to be the first single, it was already bastardized as a song from the backstage soundtrack. We talk about singles running their course. Keep it Thorough had already ran its course by the time HNIC came out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, michael Brown, people asking about Ola Oviton Blueprint in the chat asking was it really trash?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a skip it's trash. It's a skip.
Speaker 2:That was one of Timbal's. That was one of his bad beats.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people always want to talk about Braveheart Party, like they try to discredit Nas and be like yo Still Maddox Five Mice. But Braveheart Party though Jigga, that nigga, jigga is worse or on the same level as Braveheart Party.
Speaker 2:Yeah, jigga, my nigga was bad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then my second least favorite song on on Still Madica Smokin', but I would take Smokin' over. Hola Jovito.
Speaker 2:I love Smokin'. I love Smokin'. Yeah, yeah, I love Smokin'.
Speaker 1:I can't front like I was a big fan of that. I wasn't a big fan, but I'm taking it over. Hola Jovito, all day, every day.
Speaker 2:I was listening to that a lot. Cj the Kid wanted to know AG, do you think Murder Music is better than Hell on Earth? Hell, no.
Speaker 1:No Hell on Earth is their best album to me.
Speaker 2:I think Rap and Wise. I think it's their best album, Rap and Wise.
Speaker 1:I think Havoc's production is better on there. For me, the Infamous has higher. You know Shook Ones. Part 2 Eye for an Eye, survival of the Fittest Light. The highs are crazy, high right, but it's just something about Hell on Earth, man like. I've been playing that a lot this winter. I've been playing a lot of War Report and Hell on Earth because it fits.
Speaker 2:It fits the, you know fits the winter, I still go with Murder Music.
Speaker 1:I think Murder Music to me you think murder music is better than both hell on earth and infamous?
Speaker 2:barely.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I've ever heard anybody say that barely, I think, because murder music.
Speaker 2:They brought it full circle. I think it's the most successful album they ever had, for a reason, I think because they brought it full circle. But you're pulling hairs. I mean, you're pulling hairs, you're talking about infamous hell on earth and murder music. You're literally pulling hairs, you mean splitting hairs. I say pulling hairs. That's what I'm from. I'm called pulling hairs.
Speaker 1:But that sounds kind of weird though, Don't you think?
Speaker 2:In West Virginia. It may sound weird, but I say pulling hairs In West Virginia. Y'all might me splitting hairs or pulling popsicles. I don't know, I don't promise they're pulling hairs, because you're pulling your hair and you don't know which one you want to pick, so you're just pulling hairs, you quit trying to flip it.
Speaker 1:But I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that about murder music, because I think, but not discrediting it. But I say they have three classics. But people that usually say, okay, two in a possible Murder Music was always the possible.
Speaker 2:You feel what I'm saying. I'm about to listen to them all together, but I still think that Murder Music was the completion. I think Murder Music is the full circle piece to all of it. That it is, and I think, because it has that variety and it has that full circle, I think from front to end.
Speaker 2:Pause. To me it comes off better. I think the highs on Hell on Earth is really P's rhyming. He's in such a pocket that everything he was blazing, everything the highs on Infamous is you got an anthem Murder Music. You got an anthem Right, murder Music. You got all of that, but it's not as loud as you would get with. You know the Infamous and you know Silk Ones and all of that. It's the most versatility they've shown.
Speaker 2:It has more range. It has more range Because Quiet Storm might be better than anything off of Hell, on Earth and off of Infamous. Would you agree, or?
Speaker 1:disagree with that Hell on Earth. Yes, it's not better than Shook One's Part 2.
Speaker 2:Shook One's Part 2 is a pivotal part of hip-hop.
Speaker 1:Nah, sean, I think that's where it stops In Mobb Deep's catalog. If I'm ranking the greatest Mobb Deep's catalog, if I'm saying if I'm ranking the greatest Mobb Deep songs of all time, shook One's Part 2 might be the only one ahead of Quiet Storm bro.
Speaker 4:You might be right yeah.
Speaker 1:Interesting, but I had this point I wanted to make. I want to ask you no-transcript gonna make it? Oh, real quick point we gonna make. It's one of the greatest songs of all time. I think it's alchemist's best beat, you know.
Speaker 1:For a lot of people that don't know another fun fact he um had agreed to give the song to naz and then then Nas left town and then came back and said that he changed his mind because he was working on his album I'm assuming it's still Matic and he changed his mind and said he wanted to give the beat to Nashawn. And then Alchemist said nah, I'm going to take that back, not give it to Millennium Thug. And then he ended up playing it for, uh, jay. Jay turned it down in person in real time and then, jay, it landed in jada kiss's hands. You know as great as jay z and nazar. I don't think they could have did that track any more service than what jada kiss and styles did on there. It landed where it was supposed to be in the right hands, and stuff like that always fascinates me. Like you know, a track that was supposed to be in the right hands and stuff like that always fascinates me. Like you know a track that was supposed to be somebody else's. So I think that's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1:Um, for prodigy, you mentioned this the single lineup is kind of shaky. You got keep it thorough, which was already bastardized by the time the album comes out. You got, uh, um, the Genesis. You, you got the Genesis, you know what I'm saying which is not really single worthy. It's a dope album cut, but I don't know if it's a single, you know what I mean, but it was a single. And then you got YBE with BG, which is trying to get that self-reach. I wasn't a fan of YBE. Did you like that? One Didn't like it.
Speaker 2:I didn't like it. I didn't want to hear Prodigy on that with BG and BG was on fire at that time. No pun intended, he was More crazy.
Speaker 1:He was Now for meth. You got Bring the Pain, which is an all-time classic record. Yes, you got Release your Delph, which, oh my goodness, release your Delph. When the album was out as big as Bring the Pain was, release your Delph was my favorite song.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, release your Delph was crazy.
Speaker 1:It made me want to box Like for real, which I did, used to box a little bit. You know what I'm saying. So for those of y'all out there, I got hands, just so you know. So, you know what I mean? I I don't know, but anyway, and then they had All I Need remix which is like Out of here.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Like you said, the original was what it was. Yeah, the remix came out, glossed it up and it was out of here and it's one of the greatest collaboration songs, hip-hop, r&b, collab and remixes of all time. It's just one of the greatest of all time period. So out of those three, I think even though it's not on the album remixes, you know what I'm saying. That was on maxi singles or whatever still pushed your album sales back then. But I think, based on the single list, I think Meth was set up for the most success with his single run. What do you say, Sean?
Speaker 2:I think Meth had the most impact off of his single run. I think that Kiss' impact was. I think it pales in comparison to Meth's impact Because, like you just mentioned, you're talking about a song with Mary on it, when Mary's one of the hottest things out there. Right? This is a song that's played in weddings Big facts. I did it. You know what I mean. Right, that's the first one you dance off of right. So when you got that going on for yourself, come on, you transcended. And didn't he win a grammy?
Speaker 1:yes, that won a grammy. Yep, sure did. Um, we gonna make it, though they worked that late. That was like the last single release. If they would have worked that single earlier, we might be having a different conversation about the success of that album. Because they worked it late and it caught so much fire they ended up doubling back with the remix and throwing Eve on that. You remember they messed it up when they did that, okay, but anyway, we're going to make it. If they would have worked that earlier on, I think that would have been more successful for Jada's singles. But I just thought that was interesting. But meth is the right answer. It's the right answer.
Speaker 2:for sure you got to do meth. I'm sure Guys in the chat tell us what y'all think. Who had the best setup with their singles.
Speaker 1:And speaking of Mary. Speaking of Mary, I talked about how it looked kind of funny that DMX wasn't on. We Are the Streets.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Mary helped. Mary kind of discovered a lot. She's Yonkers. You don't have Mary on. We Are the Streets or Kiss the Game, goodbye.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Does a Mary feature change either one of those albums?
Speaker 2:I think it does, because I think again, it goes right back to the publication. What they were saying about we Are the Streets. They said the focus was too much on getting back at Puff. So if you're distracted by that and you got D&Y, you got Swizz in that room telling you yeah, there's stuff all over you, let's get it, let's get it, let's be aggressive. You're taking away the elements that can probably give you more range on a lox album on a first. On a second album um, because you could have had a mary joint on that. You couldn't have an x joint on that, right. Um, I like the fact that it did separate and had everyone had their solo joint on that album. I thought that was dope. Everyone had their own, no chamber to go to. But the focus now we're talking about it in real time. If we're talking about it now in hindsight, I think it's the focus that threw it off.
Speaker 1:Yeah man, this was dope man. This is probably the longest we've ever spent on a Discord dialogue segment and that was a dope convo for real yeah.
Speaker 2:shout out to the Discord man. Shout out to the discord man. Shout out to the hip hop talks discord. If you're not part of the hip hop talks discord, you've got to tap in.
Speaker 2:You've got to tap in these guys, hip hop heads, women, the hip hop heads talk about hip hop life, everything all day, every day. We got people from you know other countries that's in the discord, so it's like it's continuous and we be politicking. We politic on hip-hop and life all the time. Good stuff. We even share some you know backstories on things that we may not share here on youtube. But, um, yeah, shout out to the discord, sure what you want to do, man, you want to go into our press play and we just, you know, table the uh no, let's do it, let's do it real quick, because we got it on the thumbnail, then we'll do that and then do the press play.
Speaker 1:We can go through it fast. You know I'm saying we don't want to. You know I'm saying pump, fake, fake the listeners. So you know I'm saying yeah, let's, let's, let's go into it. We can address that real quick. Get our main topic on um.
Speaker 1:You know, uh, with the resurgence of some of the elder statesmen MCs in rap, we started having a conversation about um who were some of the top current MCs over 40, you know what I mean. And shout out to J Cole. I mentioned it earlier. Um, j Cole just turned 40 on one January 28th and he shares a birthday with Rakim. You know Rakim is one of the OG's that's still putting out music to this day. And we started you know me, sean, and Coop, and shout out to Andrew just talking about the scene behind the scenes, about some of the best rappers who are over 40. And I don't know about you, sean. I think we all have like a different rubric as far as coming up with our personal top tens. Um, I'm gonna just run through mine real quick.
Speaker 1:What I said. My rubric was like, if I'm considering you current, you know, above 40 rapper, you had to release an album in the 2020s within the last four to five years. So that's a prerequisite to be considered on my list. You know what I mean. So have to have a full project in the 2020s. Another thing I had as a requirement if you just turned 40, right, if you just turned 40 recently, what is your resume since turning 40?
Speaker 1:Okay, so, like say, for instance, somebody on my list if they're 42, you know what I mean. What have they done over the last couple of years? You know what I mean, cause they might've been cooking when they was 38 or 39, but what have they done you know what I'm saying In the last two years? And the guys that's in their fifties or whatnot you know that's too much catalog to consider what they've done in their 40s, but I'm more so reserved that for the guys that just turned 40. You know what have they done since crossing that threshold and then also had degree of difficulty.
Speaker 1:We just had a dope LL album last year, you know, while he was 56, 57 years old. You know what I mean. So at that, putting out a dope album, at that clip, right you rank. It made you rank high on my list because the degree of difficulty to still being being able to put out something that sounds good, sounds fresh, at that age, is harder to do than somebody who's maybe in their lower 40s. You know what I mean. So degree of difficulty is something I consider. And then, whatever you did since you're 40 plus, if it garnered any major notoriety, critical acclaim, major sales, or if it just moved the hip hop needle in any way in your 40s, if it wasn't, like you know, just a tree fell in the forest and nobody heard it kind of thing, then you know I based it on all those factors. So that's my rubric. Did you have anything specific for yours?
Speaker 2:Not really. I was going off a few, ok, that's fair. I was going what?
Speaker 1:I feel Okay. So you want me to go with mine first, or you want to do yours first?
Speaker 2:No, go with yours. I want to submit this in part two, if we can, because we do. We're going to challenge Koop on some of his because I know he had an interesting list. Okay, I don't want to disregard that if we don't have to.
Speaker 1:Okay For sure. So for my number 10, I went back and forth cause I didn't know, you know who to put in this 10th spot, but I ended up landing on Lupe and, granted, he didn't put out anything that had any major notoriety you know what I'm saying or it maybe didn't move the needle so much, but and lupe's 42, by the way but I feel like drill music and zion back in 2022 and samurai in 2024 are really dope albums that not a whole lot of people talk about. They get looked over a lot, but his resume since turning 40 with those two albums, I think, is something you know not to overlook. I think he's still putting out high quality music. He's a spitter, so you know, and he won a battle in his 40s against Royce. The Five Nine sent him to the shadow realm. So I had Lupe as my 10th spot. At the number nine spot, I had Jadakiss, who we talked about earlier in the show. Ninth spot I had Jadakiss, who we talked about earlier in the show. Jadakiss is 49 years old. As far as the last five years, the only albums on his resume is Ignatius in 2020, which I think is his most personal album and it's a solid effort. But the reason why he's here is because of his performance on the Versus.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean To be able to move the crowd like that, to capture everyone, to have a major hip-hop moment of that magnitude at that age, it's kind of impressive. There's nothing short of amazing. You know what I mean. That's like I mean you in the garden. That's like being in the twilight of your basketball career. That's like LeBron, you in the garden, that's like being in the twilight of your basketball career. That's like LeBron going in the garden and dropping 50. You know what I'm saying Like it's really impressive that he did that and it might arguably be the greatest moment of his career. And he can say that that came like in his later years, in the twilight of his career. So I got him in number nine, like in his later years and that's why his career. So I got him in number nine. Number eight I got killer Mike with uh, he was 49 years old. Listen, michael is a great album. It got a lot of notoriety, won a Grammy. I don't hold it as high as many people did, but the notoriety and the critical acclaim he got off that album this late in his career, I couldn't deny that Michael really moved the needle. Number seven we talked about him earlier.
Speaker 1:I got Method man, who's 53 years old. He dropped Meth Lab Season 3 in 2022, which was an okay album, but he's here, more so, based off his features. His feature run over the past handful of years has been crazy. Method man has been blazing everything. He's here, more so, based off his features. You know, his feature run over the past handful of years has been crazy. Like Method man has been blazing everything he's been on.
Speaker 1:My number six is here for similar reasons. I got Lil Wayne, who's 42. He released Sorry for the Wait in 2022, fixed Before the 6th in 2023. But he's on my number six on my my list. More so, predicated on his features, he's still rapping at a high level, blazing every feature that he's on. Um number five I got. I got conway. Um, I'm not even gonna list all the projects that conway then came out with. Uh, conway stay dropping music, but he's 42 and I think he's know. Even though he's a little bit older, he's still one of the best MCs we got in this game, currently Number four spot.
Speaker 1:I got Common, who is 52 years old, who just put out an album with a lot of critical acclaim and notoriety, which is the auditorium volume one with Pete Rock. And my number three spot goes to LL for the degree of difficulty 57 years old, he put out the Force last year with Q-Tip Dope album, super dope album. And for LL to be able to do that, not only at his age but for somebody who's been in the game since 1985, the degree of difficulty is crazy, right? Number two on my spot on my list is Freddie Gibbs, who is 42 years old. Gibbs' catalog is super dope.
Speaker 1:Since turning 40, gibbs put out Soul, soul separately and you Only Die Once, which I consider both to be very, very great albums. Wouldn't call them classics, but they're up there. And number one on my list, for obvious reasons, is Nas Escobar, 51 years old. The hit boy run in the 2020s. You know he released six albums in a span of three years. I mean, I've already done wax poetic about that so many times. If you know, you already know, so I don't got to say much about that. That's my list, yeah.
Speaker 2:Mine is similar to yours and I'll just keep it real brief. Number one you know what it is nas, nas, nas, nas um. Number two I got common um for him to still be rhyming at a high level. You know, again, common never disappoints with the rhyme, so you can't go wrong with common regardless. Um, I got l uh l. Number three, for obvious reasons being being able to come back with a phenomenal album in 2024 is very impressive. For him to be that long in the game, that far in the game and just still putting out good albums is ridiculous. It's crazy. I got Kiss on there, of course, at no 4. I got Push at no 5. I put Future in there, man, I got Future in there at no. I got Future in there at number six Future. And again, this is I'm growing up, because a few years ago I'm laughing at myself if I put Future on any kind of hip-hop list. But I'm growing. Pause and Future had what? Three albums last year.
Speaker 1:He's still working. He's about to drop another mixtape.
Speaker 2:Drop another one. You got to give Future respect. I got Em on here. You got to give Em credit. You know what I mean. He's still one of those. That album wasn't a bad album at all. I don't go back to it much, but it's not a bad album. But Em is still Em. I got Meth and I got red and I got Wayne and Round it Out.
Speaker 1:That's all I list. That's mine. Shout out to Red for putting out a dope project.
Speaker 2:Indeed, indeed. We definitely got to do a part two so we can get on the socials and get on everything with Coop on it. I have his list right here, but I'm not going to speak on his behalf because I know he's probably going to want to get into more details on his. But yeah, we definitely need to get Coop on to talk about his portion of it as well.
Speaker 1:No, doubt we can go rock the press play, bro, we can get up out of here.
Speaker 2:LP. I got Push on mine. I got Push at number five on mine LP. Me forgot about him.
Speaker 1:Push was an honorable mention for me, like, the only thing he's dropped in the 2020s is, uh, it's almost dry, and I think that was a very good album. I mean, it wasn't Daytona, but it was a very good album. But outside of you know, releasing that, he's been relatively quiet. I know we got the cliffs album upcoming, but he's been relatively quiet the last few years. This almost dry came out and, uh, was it 21 or 22? I want to say it was 22, yeah, but he's been quiet for the last couple years. So that's the only reason why he didn't make my list. But I had him written down as an honorable mention.
Speaker 1:Um, another honorable mention I had real quick. I had, you know, game. You know he had definitely uh, the joint with, uh, you know, big hit the paisley dreams and had drillmatic. I had deck as the honorable mention. That's one of that tree falls in the forest. Nobody hears it, but if you're not tapped into czar face, you know what I mean. Deck is working. They put out projects all the time and deck is still spitting at a high level. Black Thought you know Black Thought is Black Thought, with Cheat Codes. Joints like that had Eminem. I'm still always going to be an Eminem fan. The Coupe de Gras Death of Slim Shady I think it was a solid release. Then I had AZ. Az, doe or Die. 2 was a solid project. So those are just my honorable mentions. That just didn't quite make my list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, alright, cool, cool. So let's get into our press play. For those of you who's new, we do a press playlist every week Myself, aj and Kool. We would share the songs that we were playing in our tape deck, if you will, this past week. We try to come with a theme every now and then, depending on what the vibrations or the soundscape look like for us.
Speaker 2:I'm going to name off what Coop did for his press play to kick it off, ag. Then I go into you and I Coop press play. This week he was on some some wild stuff Cause he started out with the home. I don't know what could be thinking about half of the time, but anybody who know Coop, coop being a whole different mindset half of the time. But Coop started his press playlist with three, six mafia who run it. He also had Nipsey hustle double up on Snoopop, pimp slap Diddy and the family victory, and he also finished it off with C-Murder down for my you know. So that's Coop's press play for the week and we also want to put this on Twitter and in the Discord and we always encourage you all to tag onto that Twitter handle and put your press playlist as well out there.
Speaker 1:So, ag let's start with you. Yeah, me and Sean kind of collaborated on our press play because we wanted to paint the picture of, like, what was going on around that time and we talked about this early in the show leading up to. We talked about the anniversary of we Are the Streets and what that meant leading up to the solo debut of Jadakiss and the buzz that was surrounding Jadakiss at that time in 2000 and 2001. So for my list, my list kind of starts off where the locks first come to rough riders and we're leading up to we are the streets. The anticipation is building. They had to let the locks go campaign and now we know it's official they're all rough riders. So the first thing that they really put out to give that official stamp and plant that flag in the ground is on the Rough Riders Volume 1 compilation album, which is Ride or Die. You know the opening track to set it off, which is a banging posse cut. You know what I'm saying. What a way to kick it off. You got the whole camp on there. You got DMX. You got the locks. You got Drag On. You got Eve Everybody you know what I'm saying spitting on for Brooklyn there. So what a way to kick that compilation off, which is a crazy dope that never gets talked about. But this compilation album is fire okay, another song off the compilation Still to this day. My favorite song where KISS and Styles do the in-and-out flow on is Dope Money. I think as good as we Gonna Make it is. And other records where they do the in and out flow on is Dope Money, I think as good as we Gonna Make it is. And other records where they do the in and out flow. Dope Money is my personal favorite. They just spit and venom on there. Love this record, this record right here, as far as at that time it really got the anticipation up before the locks out.
Speaker 1:Next after that, also on the compilation Rough Riders Ride or Die, volume 1, kiss of Death. This is the first joint since coming over to Rough Riders where we hear Kiss solo. You know. So he had a solo record, you know what I mean on the we Are the Streets sorry, not the we Are the Streets, but on the Money Powerets. Sorry, not the we Are the Streets, but on the Money Power Respect album. But this is his first one coming over to Rough Riders where we say, okay, we finally got a, you know, a KISS solo record and J to the Wild Hustle, cloak Ride or Die KISS Hand Wash Money, let it Drip, drop, like the anticipation around KISS' solo album, like if you wasn't there for it. I'm trying to tell you he was the most anticipated artist in the game at this time, 1000%, don't let nobody tell you any different. Like he really was. And then after that I got Scenario 2000 off of off of Eve's record.
Speaker 1:Okay, as posse cuts go, this is one of my favorite posse cuts of all time, like they all spaz and go crazy. And what's even more satisfying about this record? In those times you know RZA used to do this a lot with Wu-Tang records he'd play like a snippet of something and then the beat would change and he'd be like what the hell? You know what I mean. And then you'd hear that song two albums later or whatever on different, like guillotines, you know what I'm saying. Guillotines on Cuban Link. You heard on Takao, snippet on. And Link, you know what I mean. You heard on to Cal, you know, snippet on.
Speaker 1:So when Jigga, my Nigga come out on the Rough Riders compilation soundtrack, the beat that Swizz does at the beginning is hard. Then it switches to what we know the song to be. But then Swizz, doubled back and this is the you know the first beat that plays on Jigga my Nigga the whole, you know what I'm. That plays on Jacob my nigga the whole you know I'm saying the whole song but plays out that beat and I just love this as a posse cut. And this lets you know that the locks are home. This is where they're supposed to be. And then the last track I got on my press play is Jada's solo joint from the album we Are the Streets Blood Pressure. I mean, what can I say? This is just spitting at an all-time high level, classic record, one of the best joints on that album, top five easily. And that's setting the stage for Jada's solo album. We're leading up, we're warming up.
Speaker 2:So, sean, you got it from here play was more around the anticipation of Kiss. We talked about it tonight. We talked about the lead up to Kiss the Game Goodbye. And, if you can remember, even around the time of we Are the Streets and right after we Are the Streets, jada had about a year to ramp up for Kiss the Game Goodbye. So my press play represents that and the first song that I had off of mine was the Maya featuring Kiss. Best of Me. Of course we know the story behind that. Kiss killed this record. Jay came behind and did the remix and changed everything forever. I ain't gonna lie, I like the remix a bit better. I'm not gonna lie. Jay did come through on that. Jay stunned it.
Speaker 1:He stunned it on that right the regular joint is a 10 out of 10, like you think it like.
Speaker 2:There's no way nothing can outdo that, but yeah, but it was, that was one of one. Um then kiss also being able to be on the joint world war three and I've always felt like this was kiss letting people know that he was about to get ramp up a little bit more for his album off the rough rider 2 compilation and World War III to me I was overseas when World War III was really going crazy and I remember every time the KISS verse came on my whole crew would get around me and have me spit that verse because we're overseas, so these songs represent your regions. And every time KISS verse would come on, my whole crew would get around me and I would just do that verse and to me I thought that was KISS. He killed that verse. I mean, he actually stole the show to me. He did the show on World War III.
Speaker 1:He did States his name Gangsta, yeah, when he representing Like it would sound crazy like west virginia west virginia dog like real talk. This is a top five. Swiss beat as well, I think it is it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, my other one, go ahead. This was another one. Jada kiss went crazy on go ahead. To me I think go ahead is is probably right behind LFU. Coming out the gate. Go Ahead is me the second best song on that album, right after LFU. But I love that joint.
Speaker 1:He gives a little preview. He said they're looking for my solo album, like Kennedy Jr, like that boy right there.
Speaker 2:Crazy, yeah, crazy man. Then he came back and he did a freestyle. He did a freestyle and that freestyle was on the dj clue joint. If you guys can remember, it was the professional two, him and mary, and they flipped that whole joint and, um, I think this was the song, ag, that led up to kiss. Actually, um, this was a song we heard, g, that led up to Kiss. Actually, this was the song we heard before. We heard the release single it's the game. Goodbye, yep. I think I'm missing one. I think I am missing one. Which one did you miss? I'm missing one, two, three, four. I think I ain't missing one. I don't know what y'all are missing, though.
Speaker 1:You said the Maya joint Yep. Then you had World War III. Go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 2:My name is Kiss. My name is Kiss. That's the one I was missing.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's the one. That's the one of volume two as well. Yeah, absolutely, he was spitting crazy on there too.
Speaker 2:Crazy on that, crazy on that. But that's the playlist. Again, we post a playlist on all of our socials. We put it on the YouTube community. We also put it on Twitter, so follow us on Twitter community. We also put it on Twitter, so follow us on Twitter, follow us on YouTube, follow us in the Discord. Come into the Discord and chat it up with us.
Speaker 2:Again, it's continuous. The crew is in there. We got LB, we got Eppens, we got Tri Boogie, we got Jack, we got Double. We got some thorough ones out there in that Discord and all day we talk hip-hop. All day we've been dropping jewels and everything and debating each other and sharing more stories around hip hop.
Speaker 2:If you're new to the show tonight, thank you for pulling up, but we will ask that you subscribe. We ask that you like and you share if you like the content. Tonight we've been doing this. This is our 54th episode. On thursday nights it's myself, sean, ag and coop. On thursday nights we got some other joints that we are lining up right now as well. Um, watch out for coop show coming out real soon on rap. That's going to be coming out really, really soon. Um, ag and myself are working on a project as well.
Speaker 2:Shout out to Elva. Shout out to LB on that project. Shout out to Mirror Music as well. Shout out to our man, andrew from Mirror Music. Shout out to the engineer, tripe Diesel, right there. Shout out to CJ the Kid. All of those who rock with us on day. Ones from Station Head all the way over to here. We appreciate you all, please. Ones from Stationhead all the way over to here. We appreciate you all. Please do not forget to like, share, subscribe, plug in to us, we'll plug in to you. Pauls, and we got some great I got to say that and we got some other good stuff lined up for y'all. Ag, what you got for the people as we get out of here.
Speaker 1:You said it all, man. This is the road to 2K man. Make it all man. This is the road to 2K man. Make it happen. Y'all Like, subscribe, share, that's it Like subscribe share.
Speaker 2:Like subscribe share.
Speaker 1:Keep the homie cooping your prayers, please, definitely.
Speaker 2:Keep cooping your prayers. He got some personal things going on right now, but keep him in your prayers and we'll see y'all real soon. Peace, y'all, Peace.
Speaker 4:Appreciate it.