Important Hip Hop 12"s.........
batmon
27,574 Posts
I pulled out STETSASONIC - Talkin All That Jazz.. today and i realized how crucial to the game this song was. Dudes addressed sampling at a time when the game was just beginning to be scutinized for jackin beats. The remix has that classic Mtume interview added to the intro. "tell the truth, James Brown got old, 'till Eric B.& Rakim came out w/ ...SOUL.."There's a gang of songs that really helped shape the game in all areas...name some of your favs....omit record sales pleez.Lyrical change/Production change/Influential record covers/Retro rap/random rap/whatever..... 
Comments
Damn, there's quite a few to mention, but I'd say:
Eric B and Rakim, that shit was bananas to me as far as lyrics. Pete Rock and CL "TROY" - for me this was a big change. I had never heard a beat like that, and it changed how I listened to music. Lyircally it was eh, but beat wise it doesn't get old to me. Public Enemy, overall sound. For me its more groups that changed the change than songs... Guess I didn't answer your question that well... Ha!
Eazy E - The Boyz in the Hood
Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks on Me
Lord Finesse - Baby U Nasty
neither of those are 12"s
kurtis pretty much turned rap on it's head
explain pleez?
How did these effect the game?
I agree.
Bass filtering maybe for the Main Source one? Although I don't know if that revolutionized the game, per se.
Yeah, my explanation for that one would have to be...the incorporation of the NWA scheme outside of LA, which was enough to blow up city after city following the same blueprint. Of course Houston and other cities weren't just biting as new spins were certainly put on NWA, but the inspiration certainly couldn't be avoided. Another important 12" that comes to mind in such a light is: MC Breed - Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin.
Seems like I explained the importance of Eazy E - The Boyz in the Hood within my explanation for Mind Playing Tricks. But for further clarification...fuck it, The Boyz in the Hood needs no further clarification.
Of course the Showboys - Drag Rap served and continues to serve as the foundation for NOLA bounce.
And Ron C - Trendsetter presents what may be the first instance of Texas rap purposefully being slowed down for its heavy bass effects ala DJ Screw.
well, that still important if other producers copied that technique.
It doesnt have to be a paradigm shift. but i does have to be more than - "oh i love this song..."
this seems like a stretch. can u explain more?
i'd like to note turn off the lights as one of the first cross over r&b/rap hits as well as bbd's poison for really pushing that shit over the edge.
Not sure what you're thinking is a stretch. Houston rap had been around for a bit, but remained squarely local until J.Prince was able to push his latest version of the Geto Boys into matching the immediacy of NWA. The Bushwick shooting publicity sure didn't hurt the cause, but that was just something else that went under the guise of shocking the fuck out of your audience, NWA-style.
Plus, something I've always maintained is how much LA gangsta rap had such a commanding influence on Down South rap. The Too $hort/2 Live Crew/Showboys/Mantronix flavor would eventually come to dominate the Southern sound, but back in the late-80's/early-90's much of the South was very much riveted by coming as close as it could come to replicating Straight Outta Compton.
In fact, we didn't have to look much further than D.O.C. who practically overnight went from an average Dallas rapper from Fila Fresh Crew to a "whirlwind pyramid" cohort of Dr. Dre.
I wouldnt cast all their singles as important. Just They Want EFX, which many cats incorporated, along w/ the freeform association style they used. All over the place referencing....etc.
I thought The Geto Boys were well oiled by the time Tricks came out. The song really had NYC open.
And Scarface was emerging as an elite/distinguished MC. The opening verse set the stage.
J. Prince's push also included national distribution courtesy of American's Rick Rubin--sayin'.
Not sure, really. But Main Source was the first time I ever heard anybody talking about filtering.
a stretch because you dont really say much as far as being a important hip hop 12". an important houston 12" and a great record, yes. but it sounds like youre saying its important cuz it was the first to how do u say "bit the blowed"? i mean, i guess thats important that they were one of the first to do that but it says more about the influence of nwa and how important their 12"s were.
Afrika Bambaattaa & Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock
(no need for explaination). I think this one is up there as far as one of most important.
Dr Dre & Snoop - Deep Cover
I don't know if this specifically gave birth to the G-Funk era but I would say this was prety close. I'm sure another Dre/Snoop record could be mentioned here.
And as much as I might hate to admit it, that would be followed by: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Crossroads.
From my view, Das Efz along with Fu Schnickens certainly got their iggidy styles bitten hard...but only for a short minute. Whereas that other more thorough i.e. chopped style (best perfected back then by Twista, P.E.A.C.E., and Brotha Lynch Hung) still gets used today on the regular by plenty of rappers.
Well, all I can say to you at this point is don't underestimate how important the success of Minds Playing Tricks weighed for those in cities like New Orleans and Cleveland who were then able to confirm their initial suspisions that yes, if we can just model ourselves after NWA just like Houston did...there is a future for us in this rap shit.
a dramatic departure from "Licensed To Ill". Lyrical content still pretty silly but not as frat-boyish, and the introduction of the Dust Brothers sound to the game - non-James funk samples. And also a sleeper as I remember this song getting the gas face all around from radio to the street, only to be dredged up later by the Becky's and Chad's AFTER "Check Your Head" came out.
why is that a Warlock classic? Mantronix was on Sleeping Bag.
does Warlock just buy up catalog shit and label it as their own classic?
Sugar Hill Gang: "Rapper's Delight"
Run DMC - "sucka MC's"
Ultramagnetic MCs - "Ego Trippin"
Doug E Fresh ft. Slick Rick - "La Di Da Di" (had all of NYC+ doing comdedic girl/sex story raps over beat box for a couple of years)
De La Soul- "Me Myself and I" (would you say this was the foundation for alt rap in the early 90's?
Grand Master Flash - "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" (first DJ/turntablism track)
Roxanne Shante - "Roxannes' Revenge" (first dis/answer track?)
Herbie Hancock ft. DST - "Rockit" (first use of "ahhh" scratch)
Fab 5 Freddy - "Change the Beat" (origin of the "ahh" scratch)