| When B.I.G. Met ‘Pac: The Newly Unearthed Freestyle Video | March 11, 2013 |
I’m hesitant to extrapolate broad ideas about complex artists after watching three and a half minutes of footage originally recorded 19 years ago. But this is Biggie and Pac and I have a book coming out on them in two months, so fuck it. (Pre-order now). This is no mere idyll captured by Dream Hampton […]
| The LA Underground (90-94 Mix) | January 24, 2012 |
When people invoke the history of the Los Angeles underground, they usually reference the late 90s iteration, the capital letter Underground that produced Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5, and People Under the Stairs. Less celebrated but significantly more interesting was the period that preceded it, a scene that coalesced around Project Blowed, the Unity party run […]
| The History of M.O.P. | November 14, 2011 |
In preparation for the last part of the greatest producers list. Shocking spoiler: DJ Premier will be in the top 10. Now that your day has been ruined, allow me to make up for it with an hour of M.O.P.’s greatest hits–mixed by Statik Selektah. The ideal soundtrack for throwing bricks through shop windows, slapping […]
Prince Paul gets props for leaking this on the 31st, the time when the pick and sickle crew are at their most pallid and poisonous. This has been floating around all week, but maybe you missed it, and if you read this blog, you will want to hear some unreleased 1992 arsenic from Prince Paul, […]
| The Everlasting “Nothing to Lose” SDTK: Outkast, Camp Lo, Naughty by Nature, et. al | October 27, 2011 |
Nothing to Lose is maybe the fourth best soundtrack to a Martin Lawrence vehicle made between House Party and Blue Streak. After all, even when they were mediocre, all rap soundtracks from the 90s look pretty good in hindsight. Hip hop was supposed to have sucked since ’96, but c’mon. For Nothing to Lose, Tommy […]
| A Story To Tell: Biggie Smalls & Narrative — “Suicidal Thoughts” | October 26, 2011 |
Abe Beame likes black Tim’s and black hoodies. Ready to Die ends with a bang. After an album of unbridled aggression and desperation, the climax is delivered through a quiet, inverted moment of reflection. Throughout his masterpiece, there are demons chasing the protagonists of Biggie’s songs. Though we never hear their deaths explicitly, we can […]
| A Story To Tell: Biggie Smalls and Narrative — “Friend of Mine” | October 19, 2011 |
Abe Beame does the blunts and brews thing, knocking that Wu-Tang. My favorite moment on Ready to Die comes at the end of the “Fuck Me” interlude. Biggie and Lil Kim simulate sex on a chair in the studio. As the skit reaches its climax, Kim intentionally or unintentionally falls off. Biggie immediately apologizes, and […]
| A Story to Tell: Biggie Smalls & Narrative — “Respect ” | October 13, 2011 |
Abe Beame hollers respect to all the con men. There’s a hypnotic quality to the bounce that anchors Poke and Puffy’s brilliant flip of George Mccrae’s “I Get Lifted.” Understandably, the beat and Biggie’s effortless wordplay have always mesmerized me on more casual listens. As a fan, it can drain the fun from a song […]
| A Story To Tell: Biggie Smalls and Narrative — “Me & My Bitch” | October 11, 2011 |
You don’t want to hear Abe Beame’s demos. Biggie was unpredictable. A demo called “Love No Ho” could have tenderness, compassion, romantic tragedy and darkness. While we remember “Me & My Bitch” for its rawness, intensity, and palpable loss in every bar. But it also gives us perspective on an ugly, destructive element of young […]
| The Persistence of Memory: Mos Def’s “Travellin’ Man” | October 4, 2011 |
Memories don’t live like people do. They inhabit Madeleine’s and Maxells. They idle in permanent latency, forever tempted by the trigger. The perfume vapors of a passerby that conjures high school hallway interactions with long-dissolved crushes. Memories squat inside the stucco walls of old apartments that once housed a hundred clandestine conversations. Reminiscences ripped upon […]
