Real Headz??? Questions for '70s Babies (RR)
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
I've been listening to a grip of hip-hop from the early '90s (nostalgia's a biiiiiittch) and was curious about a few things and was hoping to get some insights from folks who were remember these times:1) Why exactly was it thought that Big Daddy Kane "fell off"? Was it with "Taste of Chocolate"? Or just his entire post-"It's a Big Daddy Thing" career? Honestly, listening to his 3rd and 4th albums...they weren't bad at all (by hindsight standards) but I remember by the mid-90s, Kane had basically become a cautionary tale for rappers of that generation.2) At the height of his career, how "big" was King Tee? And why wasn't it bigger?
Comments
The King Tee question is kinda deep. I'd say he was bigger than Who Am I (Kokane), but not as big as DOC. What label was he on? Capital? That could be the reason.
peace
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And King Tee never (ever) got the shine he should have. Solid albums. It's probably because back then, the only T the media were interested in was Ice. But King Tee was still big on a small scale. Bass use to get crazy video play here.
Y0 Pooh, rock the beat with ur hands!!
Because heads felt that he was getting too soft and R&Bish and by going the pimp route on too many of his songs.
All you have to do is compare anything from his first album ("Raw", "Set It Off", "Rhymin' With The Biz", etc.)
to his subsequent lps and you should get the picture. Or maybe not.
It was pretty much over for me personally once I saw that video with him and Alyson Williams.
The albums starting w/ Taste of Chocolate (which you're right does have a few good tracks) nonetheless suffered badly in comparison w/ the first (classic) and second (near classic, though there were signs of unfortunate things to come - "To Be Your Man" w/ Blue Magic, for instance). But ultimately he couldn't change w/ the times.
The early 90s went through that Carhartt (rah-rah) Rap phase & Kane's suit wearing smooth operator persona simply did not fit in. Plus Quest, Black Moon, Wu-Tang, Biggie (not to mention Dre & Snoop & everyone out west) made him sound increasingly old & irrelevant. By 93 he didn't even know what beats he should be rhyming over, having passed on "Warning" before B.I.G. scooped it up. When he finally got a Preemo beat ("Show & Prove") alongside Jay-Z, Sauce Money, ODB etc. w/ a chance to come back rejuvenated, he came up horribly short (Scoob Lover, inexplicably channeling B-Real's nasal voice, still managed to sound worse, tho ).
There's a reason no one played/plays Kane's part on the Biggie/Pac live joint at Budweiser Superfest - he sounds out of breath & his lyrics stink. Shyheim the Rugged Child even outshined him on that.
When you were as good as Kane was when he was on top unfortunately there's really nowhere to go but down. He just did it quicker than anyone imagined.
There's your cautionary tale for ya.
Is there some occasion when you are not doing this?
Haha--damn, I didn't know he was even on that.
AIDS rumour
purple suits and capes
too many wack r&b collabos
madonna sex book
tripled up tongue twister style instead of just staying R-A-W
biker shorts
bobby brown outfits
soft schitt
"little boy blue" outfits for 1990 soul train awards (how many of yall remember THAT schitt???
waaay too many corny punchlines (see "how u get a record deal")
my man did a lot of half steppin' after those 1st two albums... BUT at least he did give us those 1st two albums (plus the early stuff on Prism, the songs he wrote for Juice Crew, etc)... that stuff alone is enough for him to be on the short list of GOAT. I've always said that Kane at his best was THE best ever... no weaknesses whatsoever IMO, homie could do it all
King Tee had Ruff Rhyme, At Your Own Risk (the marley marl rmx was real ill) and Got it bad yall with alkaholiks, who then took off and left him Dippin solo....he just never had the big hit although i enjoyed his albums...slept on the Triflin album though
Oh Faux, how little you know. you apparently have me confused with one of my elders like Phil Most. Normally, I'd be listening to hip hop from the MID 90s. Plaese not to get twisted.
And sheeyit, the last few weeks have been the first time in a long time that I've been able to get away from def jam leaks, clipse hype, and random lil wayne freestyles. It's been fun ending the year, trolling album blog sites to revisit the days of Kane, G Rap, King Tee, UGK (carpetbaggeur alert!) and JVC Force.
I agree. But... would you have said no?
holy shit. You could have just posted that video and nothing else and odubs question would have been answered.
Sex with Madonna = no-brainer?
Uh...I don't think so.
Was the transition from "Wanted Dead or Alive" to "Live and Let Die" seen as unusual/jarring? It's not like G Rap flipped night/day but BITD, I only ever really listened to "On the Run" and never sat with the rest of the album. Listening to it now...shit sounds a lot like a 1990 L.A. rap album (complete with DJ Pooh/Sir Jinx-like production) which I wouldnt have said about G Rap/Polo's first two albums.
An offer to pose naked with Madonna in some cheesy book that also featured her posing w/ Vanilla Ice seems like it would be pretty easy to turn down.
Just giving you a hard time--I've been so occupied with new rap lately, that I need to make time to go back and rediscover some schitt, too.
I though "Live and Let Die" was a strange departure. The change in sound along with the long delay of its release killed that album for me. This album was released on the same day as "The Predator" in Canada and both were HUGE letdowns.
I like this album much better in retrospect--I got rid of my original copy, and then had to pay quite a bit for a replacement when I decided that I wanted it again a few years back.
This album was actually, I believe, originally called Let & Let Die: the Movie. I've got an advance cassette somewhere where there's all this film dialog spliced intermittently b/t the songs to help give it some narrative cohesion (or maybe just b/c it sounded cool). Obviously clearing all that usage was impossible, so that's probably what held up L&LD's release. Thematically I don't think it's that great a departure from WDA - and the crime boss/gangster thing always had a presence in his music from as early as the Road to the Riches video. The production you just gotta chalk up to trend & remember how hot the West was at the time. Personally, I remember being disappointed by the record. "Ill Street Blues" wasn't even on the vinyl.
Oops.
I thought he fell off after the first?
Now as for King T- I dont know much about him at all???? But I loved this track!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP4-JRF4k3g
I find this to be insanity. Live and Let Die fucking burns end to end, and I liked it from jump. Just because the samples were heavily Pfunk related, it still retained an East Coast vibe and feel. I don't agree with anything being said here about that one. Skreetz enjoyed Ill Street Blues. Picked up the graphic imagery expressed on Streets Of New York.
King Tee's Triflin album was fucking dope. Then he waited ten bazillion years and dropped a forgettable record. The long wait between that album and the next killed his career. Not sure how Tha Triflin album sold, but it was a good album.
BDK lost most of his fan base because of, in my opinion, two things. The Madonna sex book AND that song VERY SPECIAL. Holy crap, and it was a single. Softer than a baby's behind lameness. It's a shame too, because Looks Like A Job For is actually a decent album everyone dismissed because of his image being watered down by that time. That's why he stayed strictly "rugged"/hoodied out for that record, in an attempt to regain his
This record was excellent & quite tough to find on vinyl. I got my copy from Tripledouble.