Because if you don’t you suck and need to be slapped with a rusty barnacle and two midgets holding Red Hots.
(As you can see, The Champ and I are really about this enlightenment thing. And lists. We like lists.) Two Friday’s ago, I introduced you all to 10 songs that all Black people should know. Since so many of you kept trying to throw hip-hop songs into the list – completely erroneously, by the way – I figured that the LEAST I could do was tell you all 10 hip-hop songs that you should know. And if you don’t know them, basically, you suck. You won’t lost black points, but you will lose cool points, and your opinion on hip-hop is from here forward, null-and-void. Know that.
By the way, notice IT DOES NOT SAY BEST HIP-HOP SONGS EVER (though there is definitely overlap between best hip-hop songs and songs THAT YOU SHOULD JUST DAMN KNOW).
10. Eric B. & Rakim – Paid In Full (Remix)
Dope beat, dope rhymes. What more do y’all want? There’s a reason this song is as popular today (amongst hiphop heads) as it was in the 80s. It’s just that good. Storytelling raps were never the same after this joint. “Stop smiling, be still, don’t nothing move but the money”. Motherf*cking poetry in motion.
Speaking of storytelling…
9. Slick Rick – Children’s Story
For one, because EVERYBODY has to do the rap about Dave the Dopefiend shooting dope. If everybody does it and you don’t, you should feel inadequate. Word though, I hear he doesn’t know the meaning of water nor soap. When was the last time you heard a rapper use the word “nor”. No, seriously.
8. Black Sheep – The Choice Is Yours (Remix)
I mean just be-damn-cause it’s one of the most well known and best loved rap songs in the history. Guaranteed party starter and energy anthem. Yo…WHO’S A BLACK SHEEP? WHAT’S A BLACK SHEEP?! If you don’t know. Go cut yourself with a kiwi.
7. Public Enemy – Fight The Power
I’ve never thought of Chuck D as a great rapper. Hell, I’ve never been a HUGE fan of P.E. But this song right here? Is one of the most important songs in rap history. Everything was so right about this song its amazing. Plus, it made everybody want to be militant and do the right thing. There’s something to be said about a pre-crackhead Flavor Flav actually making an impact on anything.
6. Naughty By Nature – O.P.P.
Feel good. Great beat. And the introduction of Treach’s angry flow and Vinnie’s short arms. Plus, it just might have the BEST call and response chorus ever in hip-hop.
5. Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg – Nuthin’ But A G Thang
Even white people know this song…verbatim. If you’re over the age of 21 and don’t know it, your parents failed you in life.
4. Notorious B.I.G. – One More Chance (Remix)
I had an argument with one of my boys a few years ago about the definitive Bad Boy song. This song is it. Biggie doing what he did best, be fat, black, and ugly as ever, yet still bag the chicks. I remember hearing this for the first time one summer and playing it the.f*ck.out.
3. N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
This song is the reason Ice Cube is Ice Cube in my opinion. His verse was so scary and sincere that when you found out he had two parents, wasn’t in a gang, and went to college, you refused to believe he wouldn’t kill you. Ice Cube scared white AND Black people…in 1989-93. 2008? Not so much. You just want hug him now. But “Straight Outta Compton” put N.W.A. on the map, for better or worse and changed hip-hop forever. So know it.
2. Rob Base and DJ EZ-Rock – It Takes Two
If you don’t know this song, life has failed you and you sleep alone at night with a teddy bear, a glass of water, and a paperclip. In fact, if you DON’T know at least the first four bars of the first verse AND ARE OVER 25 I actually don’t know if ever want to meet or speak to you. Ever.
1. Pete Rock and CL Smooth – T.R.O.Y.
Because it’s the best.hip-hop.song.ever. As in of all time. PERIOD.
*****
So, um…top that. And why?
-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P
There is no topping this. This list is the ultimate in Hip-Hop sexxy.
The End.
@PBG, thank you. and thank you.
DJ Kool – Let Me Clear My Throat.
@PBG, I’ll show you cecksie. ‘Come here woman’
i think that all biggie and tupac songs should be up here
(i clearly just came from seeing the movie… )
@ladebelle, please tell me what you thought of it. at first i wanted to see it just cause of my lurve of hip hop but some of those trailers were killing me!!
but then i’m hearing all these rave reviews and sh!t but not quite sure who’s writing them?!?! i think the la times gave it a good review but that could just be guilt and sh!t…
@SouthernGirl, yo if you could enjoy learning the little things. n seeing a wack 2pac wack puphie and an awesome biggie and knowing the whole story line. Go see it.
@WuDaMan, lol. ok, wu.
@SouthernGirl,
It was okay. Much better than I thought it would be. I thought Angie Bassett did a great job (she sounded JUST like Violetta Wallace), and it was interesting to see the back story. And of course the music was tight.
Tupac was whack though, and they tried to make Puffy a philosopher. Fail.
Yeah, it’s a cool list, P – I would add to it, but I don’t feel like hearing ya “boy’s” mouf.
*Taps mic*
*Clears throat*
Hi, my name is Luvvie and I’m not an Hip Hop Head. I am only familiar with half of this list. I shall do better.
*Drops mic*
@Luvvie, If I had known you were so hip-hoply undernourished, I would’ve bumped all these songs in your ear as you slept so angelically on my sofa this past weekend.
You. will. learn.
@PBG, and i would’ve stood watch with an albino midget clown holding a black squirrel armed with hood pigeons until she did better. if i had been there of course….
@SouthernGirl, I’m sayin! Luvvie came here and got mad tight w/my precocious teenager and even Tina knows all the words to “A Children’s Story”. She has got to do better.
@PBG,
Long live Blastmaster KRS-One.
Word.
@Luvvie,
BOOOOOO!!!!! Get off the stage….lol
@Luvvie,
I will pray to BBJ for your affliction known has “Dearth of Hip Hop Head-ness”
You’re welcome.
@blackberry molasses, We’ll need a powerful prayer circle for this child here. Her and others I see slinking around in the blog, souls half empty due to lack of hip-hopness.
@Luvvie,
’tis ok… I don’t know the #1 song. But I know I am no Hip-Hop Head so I’m cool.
@Sula-in-training,
ANOTHER case of the “Dearth of Hip Hop Head-ness”
**Puts on epi thinking cap… what is the common link here… what is the common risk factor for this condition?**
@blackberry molasses,
**Puts on epi thinking cap… what is the common link here… what is the common risk factor for this condition?**
Growing up outside of the US/North America would be one. Or living in a household that considered such songs “not good for kids” could be another one…
The reasons are many…
I know all the songs (finally realized I knew the first one
) now because my interest was recently piqued into listening to old school hip hop.
I didn’t grow up listening to hip hop AT ALL… Until I was a rebellious teenager that is, and by that time the Rakim, and Slick Rick and Whodini of the world had already faded somewhat or were no longer as commercial as the Naughty By Nature, Biggie, Pac et al…
Plus in Francophone Africa, you have to factor in the language barrier. Hip-Hop is visual poetry. If you don’t “understand” or “get” the subtle references, you are missing it all. So it was hard trying to decipher slang from Brooklyn or Compton when there was no cultural reference to go back.
All of this dissertation to just help you with your understanding of this rather interesting phenomenon
That is all.
@Luvvie,
*picks up mic*
I have only heard 4 of the songs (2,4,6,7), and I barely know most of the words to them…
In my defense I am from the islands, grew up in a VERY Caribbean and Christian household.. oh and my dad is a preacher… hip hop, rap, anything remotely like that, was not played in our home and even now as an adult I have not gotten into hip hop…
Do I have to turn in my card? Can I be helped?
*putting down mic.. hanging head in shame.. slowly shuffling off stage…*
@Bajan Girl, we’ll add you to the prayer/hip hop immersion list.
i would argue that even peri-/post-crackhead Flava Flav made impacts. i mean, he had an impact on my love-hate for reality TV. if it wasn’t for FF, the world may not know lip chap as they do today (thank you Sapphyri). and the hot, raggedy a*s mess that is “New York”?? and lest we forget the public display of his love affair with an awkwardly tall white [and somewhat masculine] woman??
for better (yeah right) or worse, FF has been imprinted on every one’s mental landscape. *smh* tragic.
@GEMazing, slow clap, gemmie…preach!
@GEMazing,
none of that has anything to do with Public Enemy which is what put him on the map and what really matters in the grand scheme of things. PE was the sh!t.
*blank stare* yeah ok your point?? this comment was purposefully aimed at post-PE FF and in direct response to Peej’s comment “There’s something to be said about a pre-crackhead Flavor Flav actually making an impact on anything.”
HA. I made it on here early! ::does cabbage patch…sike::
Any way you can get a link to the number 1 song on here? I dunno that one. Great list otherwise, though I would wanna add “The Message” on there somewhere.
@Sowhatiff Jenkins, wow…REALLY?!?!! lawdjeefus chile. here’s a link to the song and video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFmDbtNqfI0
you must know, love, and learn this song. posthaste!
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
My first, most visceral reaction to you not knowing the Number One song that the Oh So Sexxy One (yeah, he’s now my BFF for this list but it will only last until the next VSB post) was to completely obliterate your lifespace. But, BBJ took the wheel and made me find the song for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg7kK7xeQ6Q
I can barely function when I hear the saxophone opening on this song. PBG goes into a sublime hip-hop trance from the very first note. It’s not a game!
@PBG,
“I can barely function when I hear the saxophone opening on this song”
You too huh?!
@miss t-lee,
me three!!!!
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
*blank, blinking stare*
@PBG, My bad yall…I definitely know the song…just never knew the name…
::shakes head in shame::
Thanks for the link.
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
I’m glad you cleared all that up because I was indeed plotting your “untimely demise”.
@Sowhatiff Jenkins, don’t feel too bad. I didn’t know that was the name either – love the song, just never knew the name – although, in my defense, even the video doesn’t list it as an acronym…
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
Don’t feel bad. I thought I didn’t know it either until I clicked the link and heard the opening riff…then I knew I knew it.
Great top 10!
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
My bad yall…I definitely know the song…just never knew the name…
you know, i’d argue that there are more than a few people who know this song, as well as the entire chorus and last verse, but dont know the name of it. kind of like a straight version of “bohemian rhapsody”
@The Champ,
Ok, now that I’ve seen the video, I know the song. Never knew the name though. Surprised PJ picked this as the #1 you should know.
@bballmom, why a surprise pick?
@Panama Jackson, If you had picked anything else as #1, I would’ve given you the Side Eye of Death from here on out. I mean, it would’ve been like I never knew ya.
@Panama Jackson,
For me it would have been either your number 2 or 3 choice as number 1.
But, I am so not a hip hop head and you would slay me in a debate on the subject.
Just an old ladies opinion. LOL
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
i mean…how….whaaaa….i just…..hmmmm.
*sigh*
what you meant to say was you’ve at least HEARD of it you just don’t KNOW all of the words…right?!?!?!
*watches tiny glitter of hope fade away*
@SouthernGirl, see my reply…lol.
::watches glitter of hope come back::
@Sowhatiff Jenkins,
whew….that was a close one.
@Sowhatiff Jenkins, Im glad it wasnt just me.. when I saw it I was like what the only song from CL smooth and pete rock that should make any list is reminisce….but then I tend to name songs whatever the h-e-ll I want to in my head… LOL
@Shay-d-lady,
Glad you said “reminisce”, Shay-d-lady, (Youtube is prohibited beyond the Great fireWalls), so I googled the lyrics… and YES, I do know the song. I actually think it’s a great song!
“When they reminisce over you my god”… and then it goes into the sax riff…. Wowsers!
Yeah, def great list!
@Sowhatiff Jenkins, .
my best on this list is Paid in Full, which i discovered courtesy of one of the Form 5 hotties performing it at the schools talent night…. ah, the sight of Thando (RIP) pacing up and down the stage like a caged lion, gold chains swinging as he blasted into the mike ‘Thinking of a master plan…” oooh wee!!!
it was so perfect, after that, the entire school discovered hip-hop!! (before then, the extent of our hip-hop had exposure had been LL’s ‘i need love’, faithfully dubbed on tdk cassettes and blasted out of our ‘vibe machines’ – yes, we called our ghetto blasters ‘vibe machines’)
i approve this list.
*takes brass covered wooden stamp out of special hiding place, looking over shoulder for would-be Sparkly Sista paraphernalia stealers*
*gold star stamp of approval*
@SouthernGirl, yay.
@SouthernGirl,
what is the deal with people (read: Lil ‘T) trying to steal the Sparkly Sista… (wait for it)… SWAG?!?!?
@blackberry molasses, lmao. i love it! Sparkly Sistas Swag.
idk. you know lil t was all up in my mind when i wrote that! keep your eye on redbeanz too.
@SouthernGirl,
Oh word?!?! **cuts a mean side eye at RedBeanz, while handing her dossier to the Sparkly Drop Squad**
Just curious…
“One More Chance” the original or the more well known remix, which imho is the best remix ever. That’s back when remixes actually sounded different from the original and didn’t just add another rapper and/or R&B artist.
@Right Her, the remix. i shall go make that correction in the post. good call. lol.
@Right Her, I was thinking the same thing…
@Right Her, THANK YOU! That remix is the most bananas of all bananas! I actually wanted to BE in that video, like seriously. The DeBarge sample…omg. I get verklempt @ its fabulousness. I stan for it.
@PBG, I accidently downloaded the original version thinking it was the ‘remix’, and was forced to spend an entire day listening to the original on my ipod. It was horrible.
There is nothing more agonising than realising you downloaded the wrong song on your ipod.
Ok, there is-Forgetting to charge you Ipod is equally torturous. Why am I talking about Ipods? I will go away now.
@postmodern pwnage,
“@PBG, I accidently downloaded the original version thinking it was the ‘remix’, and was forced to spend an entire day listening to the original on my ipod. It was horrible.”
Poor thang! The original just won’t do – natatall!
@Right Her,
Yeah this is one of the best remixes ever! You’re right…remixes used to be a completely different songs. *sigh*
@Right Her, ya know, part of the reason i forgot it is bc the “remix” was the single and they never said it was a remix. you didnt’ know it was a remix unless you had the album, which if you think about it was marketing genius. like, how many folks bought the album off the strength of that song? i’m guessing a lot.
who THEN had to go back and buy the single. lol. money in the bank.
@Panama Jackson,
Never thought of it that way…but you’re right.
I had already bought the album and never got the single since they were playing the hell out of it on radio and in the clubs…lmao
@Panama Jackson,
you can kind of say the same thing about big pun’s “still not a player”. most cats didnt realize that was a remix until they bought the album…even though he also had a video for the original version
@The Champ,
True…I forgot about that one too.
I tried to rack my brain to think of additions but there are none good list and shyt.
I’ve been alot of places and I have yet to go to a place where the people didn’t know, “It ain’t no fun” by the Dogg Pound. It’s not the most pleasant song but dammit, it bangs after several cocktails.
@Jeandra,
That was a shining moment for Nate Dogg, lol, that song goes hard at 90′s parties fo sho…
@Jeandra, definitely a banger that even the most hip-hop of hip-hop heads knows. it would be on my list if i extended it to say, 30 .
as i’m under the age of 25 and i spent almost 10 years in britain during the time it was a hip-hop dead zone, i am exceedingly proud that i know 7 out of 10 of these very well.
i might also sneak nas’ “N.Y. state of mind” onto the list, but only cos i’m biased.
and maybe “ice ice baby”. lemme stop…
@puff,
Then entire opening verse for the ‘New York State of Mind’ some of the most vivid imagery I’ve ever heard in a rap song.
Picked the mac/I make it happen/the mac spit/lead was hittin’ ni__as/I ran/and made ‘em backflip
-or-
I never sleep/cause sleep is the cousin of death/beyond the walls of intelligence/life is defined/I think of crime/when I’m in a New York State of Mind
classic.
@puff, i toyed with the idea of Nas in general. like, hip-hop heads know Nas stuff, but for the most part, short of “If I Ruled The World” Nas’s catalog is largely unknown to the masses. though in this context of this list, i’m guessing a lot of folks would know Nas songs.
@Panama Jackson,
i’d argue that “hate me now” was actually the most widely played nas track. either that or “oochie wally”
@The Champ, i dont know about that. If I Ruled the world charted higher than Hate ME Now AND pushed that album to platinum status. plus If I ruled the world was one of the biggest hits of 1996. a good hip hop year.
@The Champ,
offering a perspective from across the pond, i’d agree with you. “hate me now” definitely got more play than “if i ruled the world”. unfortunate, as i think the latter was a much better song, but then again i’ve only recently come to terms with nas’ “bling” phase (“owe me” being the prime example of that). either which ways, he stays my favourite rapper so it’s all love and whatnot.
@puff,
Kelis needs to withold the naynay from Nas for at least a month because he STILL needs to pay a pennance for ‘You Owe Me’ and ‘Oochie Wally’
Kelis…. handle that!!!
I like the list.. I would say that you could have added Hail Mary or ambitionz as a rider or aint nothin but a gangsta party for some tupac and Im bad and of course.. The Show I would have to say the show should be up there before It takes two… ,….six minutes, six minutes dougie fresh your on, uh uh on, uh uh on, ……..
@Shay-d-lady, “The Show” is in the top 20.
@Shay-d-lady,
ambitionz as a rider? he said top ten, not top one thousand and ten
Pingback: Very Smart Brothas | 10 Hip-Hop Songs Everybody Should Just D*mn Know. | Hitstopz
overall though I like the list more as a list of songs hip hop listeners should know and not as the top 10 songs overall…i would also say that parents just don’t understand should have gotten honerable mention or something…..
@shay-d-lady, I meant more as a general list of 10 songs hip hop heads should know but not necessarily THE top 10 list of hip hop songs poeple should know.. if that makes sense.. its late and I have scarlet fever, croup and the whooping cough over here….
@Shay-d-lady, you know…i would agree with you except that most if not all of these songs came out during a time when everybody listened to teh same rap, east or west coast. and there also weren’t a gazillion random ass rappers either. like, EVERYBODY knows “The Choice is Yours” pretty much…unless you’re under 20. in which case, you need a good talking too..
@Shay-d-lady, Awe get better. Man I haven’t heard of scarlet fever since them stories in sophmore year of H.S. ‘the scarlet ibis.’ Let’s just say you are not supposed to John Q guys like that in prose. hm
The only song I knew was #6…so much for being cool. LOL!
@Coco,
Die! Dammit! Die!
@Coco,
I see you also have a case of the “Dearth of Hip Hop Headness”
more prayers to BBJ for you as well.
You’re welcome.
…wow.
@Coco, *sigh*
im’ma add you to my prayer list.
and don’t be surprised if you wake up to see me and PBG standing over your bed with a pair pliers, handcuffs and earphones (see luvvie’s punishment above on aisle #4)
@Coco,
how is the food on neptune? just asking because i figured you’d know since you’re obviously from there.
“When they reminisce over you, my God.”
R.I.P. Trouble T-Roy. I love this song. I love it because it gets me to thinking about other songs and just about the way life was back then. Aah memories. Let me see who’s my age. Can you finish this rhyme?
“Me Glen and Troy went to a disco. Word…
@Ms. Hall,
“Pete Rock & CL Smooth was on stage drinkin Cisco…”
…that Heavy D!
@Resident GRitS,
That will ensure my happiness for the rest of the evening.
Thank you.
@Resident GRitS,
Extra Credit: Where was DJ Eddie F? (Hint, per the lyrics, he’s not at the disco w/Heavy and the Boyz)
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
“Eddie F was home makin’ a beat…”
Words can’t express my joy.
@Ms. Hall,
You.Are.Official.
@Ms. Hall, you wouldn’t happen to be a kindergarten teacher? I really had a kindergarten teacher named Ms. Hall. She was even my Godmother. Wow & great song pic.
@WuDaMan,
Sorry, that’s not me. But she sounds really nice.
i haven’t truly danced to this song since high school, but i can do a mean elliptical to ‘fight the power’. i can also (mostly in my head) mimic the entire routine that rosie perez performs in the beginning of do the right thing…right hook, pump and all.
all jokes aside, it’s a great exercise song. *now where did i put my spandex…lol*
@Miss Patterson, gril who needs spandex. David Banner ‘play’
@Miss Patterson,
i can do a mean elliptical to ‘fight the power’.
***this sentence is also number 43 on the list of “things liz lemon would say if she was a vsb-er”***
@The Champ, I totally heart Liz Lemon and everything Tina Fey. If I absolutely, positively HAD to be a 2520, I’d be her.
@PBG, wait, did you guys see the scene where liz lemon danced for the flu vaccine? i was dying!!!
ATCQ – “Electric Relaxation”
Basically if you don’t know this YOU SUCK and your parents failed you.
Common – “I Use to Love H.E.R.”
If you don’t know this one….go fly a kite.
De La Soul – “Me, Myself, and I”
If you don’t know this one….go kick rocks.
Fugees – “Ready or Not”
If you don’t know this just perish.
@PFLoW,
“ATCQ – “Electric Relaxation”
Basically if you don’t know this YOU SUCK and your parents failed you.”
Apparently Lupe Fiasco’s parents failed him…lol
@miss t-lee, Psshhh @ Lupe for that shyt he said about ATCQ. He officially turned me off w/all that. Horrible look for him!
@miss t-lee,
Electric Relaxation is the ringtone on my phone for everrybody ‘cept the hubby, my momma, my daddy and my bff.
My hubby’s ringtone for me on his phone is Bonita Applebaum. teee hee
@ PFloW… great list.
Especially Ready or Not. H3ll, if you don’t know and love The Score, you need a hip hop head blood transfusion… and possibly and exorcism.
@blackberry molasses, “My hubby’s ringtone for me on his phone is Bonita Applebaum.”
that’s so cute. makes me giggle…
@PFLoW, For real though. I would put ATCQ in for #6. 1. czu #6 is so comercial. 2. cuz #6 is a thug holla song, a thug tryina be slick. I’d put up some bone thugs n harmony over opp. Sorry just don’t like the song.
@WuDaMan, i’m gonna have to go ahead and call Bullsh*t on your #2 Wu. for one…wasn’t no commercial hip-hop back then. hell, even Jazzy Jeff and Fresh PRince weren’t commercial. sure, black folks knew them but the world at large? not so much. and they charted but did that make them commercial either? nope.
and even using your OWN logic, if its commercial, that’s EXACTLY why everybody should know it. brown, yellow, puerto rican, or haitian…
nobody would ever call Electric Relaxation commercial.
@Panama Jackson, Aight! I’ma tell Evil Kanevil you said what’s up when I land in the burn unit. Still don’t like OPP as much as I like jumping in a hip hop mosh pit (kris kross or smokin on Hey). I just can’t @ least not as much to opp.
excellent list, and I say that only after youtubing most of the songs mentioned, and only now discovering their aesthetic worth! VSB rocks!
on a sidenote regarding your affinity for lists- how about you guys do a list of songs/films that are so bad they become genius works of art…For example, bohemian rhapsody or rocky IV might quality under such list..
again good post!
@postmodern pwnage,
on a sidenote regarding your affinity for lists- how about you guys do a list of songs/films that are so bad they become genius works of art…For example, bohemian rhapsody or rocky IV might quality under such list..
***making notation***
Nas??
@YGB,
I went to a Nas concert last year and none of my 2520 coworkers knew who he was… i didn’t know how to feel about that, lol
@Relax, Relate, Alise,
i fail to comprehend. really?
@Relax, Relate, Alise,
you should be afraid. Very afraid. And possibly consider changing jobs.
@blackberry molasses,
i agree and sh!t.
but i too have such a sad tale. i used to work at Houston’s and one night doug e fresh came in to eat and i almost lost my mind. and the 2520 girls i was working with were sooooo not understanding why. he was very nice and gave me a tip for taking him to his table.
now see, when ‘ol boy from malcolm in the middle and them one tree hill folks came up in there it was a whole ‘nother story.
*sigh*
@SouthernGirl, can somebody help me pick my jaw up off the floor. You got to meet the prince of the human beat box?! Do SBBJ.
@Relax, Relate, Alise,
One of my 2520 co-workers has Children’s Story as his ringtone. I always look forward to hearing his phone ring….:)
@Relax, Relate, Alise,
Nas did a concert here at Pitt a couple years back. i was soooooooo hype, even knowing i’d be surrounded by undergrads but i had to go. and… well… it was super whack!!! i was PISSED!!! Nas just didn’t put any feeling into it. it was so dead and soul-less. i almost cried.
@GEMazing,
whaaaaa?!?!?
@GEMazing, have you heard nas catalog. half of his songs are dead and soul-less.
LOL.
SHOTS FIRED!!!!!
LMAO but that’s the thing. the songs he “performed” were the classics and the songs that caused me to fall in love with him. but his performance was so ridiculously whack that he should have just bust out with “hoes and thugs / drugs and ice / #69 garlic chicken with rice…” cuz at least i would have been entertained.
@GEMazing,
e-sis, you just made me spit out my Fiji. Thanks. LOL
I definitely approve of this list, and I am proud to say I know every single one of those songs!! Yay!!
I haven’t read through all of the comments yet, but I would add
1st of the Month–Bone Thugs N Harmony
Freaks Come Out at Night–Whodini
Mind Playing Tricks On Me–Geto Boyz
Push It–Salt-N-Pepa
U-N-I-T-Y–Queen Latifah
I have a few more, but I have to get ready for work now…..
@N.I.A. naturally….,
“Mind Playing Tricks On Me–Geto Boyz”
This would my all time Texas top 10…lol
@N.I.A. naturally….,
Freaks Come Out at Night–Whodini
This reminds me of Friday After Next when dude that owned the holy moly donut shop started singing it…
in my best israeli accent :
“freaks come out a night woop woop, freaks come out at night…” (gets a wtf? look from craig and dayday)
“nevermind buddy…”
Oh no…I fogot about my baby Tupac….
I Get Around
Brenda’s Got A Baby
Dear Mama
Keep Ya Head Up
So Many Tears
Ok, now I really have to go….VSB making people late…
@N.I.A. naturally….,
VSB making people late…
double entendre much?
@The Champ, giggling in my cube 4 reals
@The Champ,
lol!!
I totally agree with you on T.R.O.Y. That’s one of my favorite beats EVER. Period.
Straight Outta Compton was one of the first tapes I had my friend copy for me (cause my Dad wasn’t having me buying that ish). Ice Cube was scary as hell especially when he “you too boy, if you f**k with me, the police are gonna have to come and get me, off YO’ AZZ.” When he said that ish, I felt that he meant it. lol
Just to be facetious…no Three Times Dope “Funky Dividends?” ha haaaaa
Oh yeah PJack you ever seen this breakdown of Paid In Full?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1CDEiInlmI
@miss t-lee, that was pretty damn great. like seriously. i’d do that with more songs from the 80s and 90s but they were using like 10 samples per song
like on this one. like do you realize how long it had to take to put all that together?? just finding it had to take forever.
@Panama Jackson,
Yep, it seriously makes you appreciate the producer’s work that much more.
I feel good when I can pick apart 2 or 3 samples on a song. It’s gets hard when it’s more than 3 though. Especially when it’s madd obscure stuff.
Now that’s a real hip-hop head list! Maybe a few from me:
Notorious BIG: Warning
Slick Rick: Lodi Dodi
Grand Master Flash: Don’t push me (effing classic!)
@As Is,
“Notorious BIG: Warning”
This is my fav Biggie song. Hands down.
@miss t-lee,
no love for Machine Gun Funk?
@Deviant,
It’s good, but for some reason Warning was that one.
Still know all the words by heart. Machine Gun Funk, I only know a few…lol
@miss t-lee,
Favorite Biggie song (besides “Unbelieveable”) – “The What” Feat. Method Man. Contains my personal mantra in the chorus:
Fcuk the world / Don’t ask me for isht / anything you get you gotta work HARD for it / Honey shake ya hips (ya don’t stop)/ Nig99as pack the clips / Keep On
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
I love that song.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
I got sent to detention for singin that outloud in the hallway in hi school.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
LOL!!!
The whole dayum album goes hard. I got love for every single track, well except “Respect”, I used to fast forward past that ish erry time….lmao!!!
What is a hip hop must list without Juicy?!?! I mean who doesn’t get hype screamin out, “It was all a dream…” Let’s also add Meth and Mary’s You’re All I Need. If you are over 25 and don’t know this song you are obviously an unhappy virgin.
@journey78, Juicys a great song. i’d be on the list somewhere down the line.
@journey78,
welcome and sh*t.
@journey78,
welcome!!!
*shooting gold stars*
@journey78,
Sorry I’m late!!!
Welcome!! **Special Limited Edition PRESIDENT OBAMA Diva Dust ™** for you!!!
Rappers Delight didn’t even et an honorable mention? WTF… we been robbed! the fix is in!
Love the list
OKAY NOW WAIT A MINUTE! You mean to tell me that noone is going to put up that ‘My Mind is Playing Tricks On Me’ by the Ghetto boys. Yo that is the halloween anthem. Everybody knows all the words to that shyt son. I mean the whole damm song everybody’s verses. Just sayin.
@WuDaMan,
I got you Wu…see comment 21 above. And I really do know all the words to that song, even though, up until Halloween 2008, I hadn’t heard it in several years.
@WuDaMan,
I want to let you know that I quit you twice yesterday… it was late, but I did it. LOL
@blackberry molasses, lmao!
@blackberry molasses, psht another qualude o glidder she be back. what for? lol
@WuDaMan,
Go back to yesterday’s post… you’ll see where I quit you.
@blackberry molasses, come on now you know good n well that, that was an entertainment styled message. Don’t you?
@WuDaMan,
Of course I do… and I quit you for my own entertainment… or did you not see me laughing my a$$ off?!?!
@blackberry molasses, girl you only quit him twice yesterday? We stay quitted!
@Intellectual Hedonist, *long sigh, lights up cigar* *throws up the okay symbol* aka (in Brazil if you shake it back and forth where your three extended fingers are making an ax’s choping motion) as the I’ll cut your head off tomorrow because today it ain’t worth my time.
@WuDaMan, ooh, ooh, ooh. i lurve that song. i just remembered something ~~~~~ we did a remake of that in school. lol.
i forgot how we changed up the words to make it non-dention worthy but i think it just revolved around making fun of our classmates. i think our teacher just humored us and let us perform it cause i really don’t think she knew.
This list is perfection. Had me humming and reciting lyrics under my breath on the train along to my ipod. Good work Peej!!!
@blackberry molasses on her Crackberry, well thank you ma’am.
I don’t know if anyone has said this one already but,
Method Man and Mary J Blige: “You’re All that I Need.”
Everyone HAS to know this song!
@Nicki Sunshine, I freaking love this song!!! It is my Dad’s ringtone.
@Suga&Spice, It’s definitely a classic!
Maybe I’m showing my age here but I don’t think this list reflects any of the bangers from let’s say ummmm the LAST 10 YEARS. I definitely agree that all of the songs on the list are noteworthy/listworthy but what about “We Gonna Make It” by Jada. By far the hardest opening line a rap song “F*ck the frail sh*t”. I think that b/c the average age of this blog is upper 20′s and lower 30′s this list is more nostalgia than what everyone should know
@Peyso da Don, yeah I gotta agree with you on this comment peyso
@Peyso da Don, though i feel you, i think that there’s a reason for that. and “we gonna make it” definitely wouldn’t make any list shorter than 100. seriously. and the list is 1o songs. 10. if you do lists with 20 to 30 or even 50 and 100 of course songs like “in da club” and “what you know” make the list.
but if you don’t know O.P.P., that’s a problem.
@Panama Jackson, I know every song on the list just b/c my dad listened to rap when I wass young. The thing is though that some of the songs arent much better or more popular so why do they need to be known? B/c they should hold a somewhat special place in all of your hearts
@Peyso da Don,
“but what about “We Gonna Make It” by Jada. ”
The beat was hot, but I’m not sure about the rest of it…lol
@miss t-lee,
i love that song!
Ja.Da. Muah.
@laylah,
I’m actually re-listening to the lyrics right now, to see if I change my mind…I’ll report back.
@Peyso da Don,
the last 10 years of hiphop was inferior to the previous 20
@Deviant,
I co-sign this statement 110%.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
I underwrite this statement 120%
@Deviant, I would argue that the last ten years were inferior to the previous ten, to go to previous 20 is a bit of a stretch. However, just because the last ten were inferior to the previous ten does not mean that the top songs from both eras were not comparable. I think what made the early and mid 90′s so great for music was the depth and thats what recent music lacks. Thus, there should be a bit more new music in the list.
@Deviant,
For whom though?
Who makes those decisions? Who decides what’s hot and what’s not?
Music appreciation is so personal and obviously generational that trying to define “real” hip-hop is a moot point, IMO.
I came into the Hip-Hop game late but I like and appreciate music in general. I absolutely love the early years of hip-hop because the sounds talk to me and the lyrics are poetical enough to make me swoon.
However, does that make it better hip-hop? If a 22 (or 32 it doesn’t matter) year-old doesn’t have the same standards for appreciating music then we could be going in circles for hours.
I don’t know, I find the “better”, “real” hip-hop discussions to be very interesting. But most of the time, it’s about who listened to what while they started having sex… (cf. Panama I think??
)
@Peyso da Don,
I’d dare say cuz not much in the last 10yrs has come anywhere near the amazing-ness of the 10 songs PeeJay listed here.
But that’s just one Pretty Brown Girl’s opinion. What do I know…I listen to Cream and Mother’s Finest almost daily.
@PBG,
Ima also have to agree that the last 10 years of hip hop PALES in comparison to the time before that. The last 6 years has been a SERIOUS decline. Like SCARY.
I fear for future generations… they’re going to be calling that stuff ‘classic’… if their parent’s fail them, that is.
@blackberry molasses,
That’s why Ike n’ Tina get daily doses of QUALITY MUSIC, hip-hop and otherwise. Never have my kids out here quotin’ SouljahBoy and R&B thugs n’ pop-tarts. Hellz to the NAW!!!
@PBG,
once again, mad “Good Parenting Points” for the PBG!!!
pop ya collar, girl!!!
@blackberry molasses,
I have on a tank top, so I’ll just pop the strap. LOL!
@PBG,
Gone brush that chocolatie shoulder off. mh mh mh
@Peyso da Don,
I like “We Gonna Make It” but I’m not sure if it’ll be one of those songs playing on that Friday evening commute home (when they love to play the throwback music) five/ten years from now.
There’s some more recent songs I could definitely imagine on there though:
a’int no ninja – jay z foxy
crush on you – lil kim
hustlin’ – rick ross
get low – lil jon
in da club – 50 cent
lean back – terror squad
@shhwhisper,
that list jut made me have a small aneurysm. I’ll be sending you the doctor bill.
@Peyso da Don, That is my song!!!!!! Gets me hyped up everytime.
@Peyso da Don,
I agree with you Peyso. I think there was some amazing music made within the last 10 years. it’s too hard to come up with a definitive list.
@Peyso da Don,
I agree that differences in age influence music tastes and genre appreciation.
So you do have a valid point.
I can’t believe this song was left out the list.
EPMD – You Gots to Chill
10 Hip Hop Songs every HIP HOP HEAD should know
Nas feat. AZ – Life’s a B**ch ( I remember dudes having serious arguments over whose verse was better)
Black Moon – Buck em Down Remix
ATCQ – Scenario Remix (real heads know that youcould only get it on vinyl when it 1st came out)
Raekwon feat. Nas and Ghostface – Verbal Intercourse (Nas was nice before this came out but this verse really put him in that elite group of rappers)
Biggie – Unbelievable (This song not juicy made me buy Ready to Die)
Smif n’ Wessun – Sound Bwoy Bureill
Souls of Mischeif – any thing off that first album. ( extra points if you are up on cab fare)
DOC – anything off his 1st album
Kool G. Rap – Road to the Riches
Big Daddy Kane – Warm it up Kane
@Humble_One,
…tear drops…. can we talk music offline somewhere? I know all the Hip Hop Head songs front and backwards, you wanna be my new friend? lol
@Relax, Relate, Alise,
We can talk anytime. I can count on one hand how many people I can talk about music with so I welcome new hip hop heads.
@Humble_One, i’d agree with that list except for the Souls of Mischief joint. i cant’ say that entire album was good. 93 til infinity of course, but the rest of it is largely non-memorable.
i actually toyed with a few of the joints on this list and do have plans to do a hip-hop heads list. like real bangers of which of course, “unbelievable” would be on there.
also, i’d argue that perhaps “i gotcha opin” would make my list ahead of the “buck ‘em down” remix though i like “buck ‘em down” more.
@Panama Jackson,
I use to flip-flop b/w i gotcha opin and buck em down. It took me about 5-6 years to like buck em down more
@Humble_One,
DOC Check….
EPMD…check…
I concur on those, but what I’d really like to place as an argument is the fact that Hiphop had all sorts of styles and personalities that I can’t always narrow it down to a top 10 or 20.
@CPT Callamity,
I agree. I wanted to put Eazy Duz It and X-Clan on there but I realized I said 10 songs. What was great about mainstream hip-hop before the late 90′s was the diversity. Even when one type of music was dominant you still got enough of what you wanted.
@Humble_One,
I think that’s what I miss the most. You had the Native Tongues for some refreshing and playful wordplay. You had NWA when you wanted harsh reality of the skreets. You had XClan, BDP, PE when you wanted conscious and edutaining rap. I tried to tell the youngins about this variety we had and how many people were trying to create a different sound and taking risks.
Nowadays it’s one flavore: 808 Ala triggerman beat, lyrics that rhyme with “mayne” (stain, pain, chain…), and you have to look like your mother didn’t love you.
@CPT Callamity,
Honey…. is that you??!? What the hell you doin on here? You told me you were staying in bed this morning cus you’s tahd. LIAR!!!
… I’m sorry. Had a moment. Cuz you sound JUST LIKE HIM when he talks about hip hop. All day, erry day. Right down to the turning our basement into his studio with all his crates, turn tables, mixers. Unbeknownst to him, but now knownst to the rest of y’all his birthday present is that I’m going to renovate the whole basement for him complete with soundproofing.
@blackberry molasses,
Naw, it ain’t me.
Damn…I need a girlfriend. I’d appreciate anyone contributing to my audiophilic needs. I’m still waiting to get a house before I can actually have a sound room setup the way I want.
but yeah…I’m passionate as hell about Hiphop (the culture).
@CPT Callamity, this is so true and an arguement i am tired of having with certain people in my lifespace.
@SouthernGirl,
Right. When I talk to my white boys, they don’t start naming top 10 Rock Bands because there is always something/someone different coming out. You know…Korn’s hot for a minute and NIN has “construction metal” while Nirvana was “Grunge” while My Chemical Romance is Emo, etc…
I liked when people like the Gravediggaz came up with the genre of horrorcore. Boogiemonsters were just some cool azz college kids. Onyx made Grimey amped up music. So many flavors…
@CPT Callamity,
The whole “Horrorcore” genre was the funniest isht ever.
Gravediggaz did it best, but the other group I remember from that genre was “Live Evil” who had a single by the same name. The video had them performing in a graveyard with one of the MC’s hanging from a tree and another rhyming inside a burial plot. (WTF?!!)
One of those dudes was Russell Simmons’ nephew, which is probably how that project got green-lit in the first place. lol
@CPT Callamity,
Horrorcore was funny as heyll.
Let’s not forget my favorite Gangsta NIP!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlBwku4PegY
@CPT Callamity, i would argue that many of the rappers of the early to mid 90′s looked like they didnt come from a loving mom too
@CPT Callamity, Major co-signage. Why I gotta go scrounging around in the deepest recesses of the intrawebs to find good hip-hop nowadays? What happened to the days when you could turn on the radio and hear the best stuff? I’ve been avoiding the radio like the plague for longer than I care to mention. *smdh*
@PBG,
Okay and to help you and everyone else out…here’s a site called The RUB radio. You can download mixes of the best songs by year of hiphop from 79-99. Thank me later…
http://www.itstherub.com/radio.htm
@CPT Callamity,
thank you
@PBG, who you telling about avoiding the radio…i stays listening to my ipod. seriously considering reupping my xm radio.
@PBG, my brother told me how he heard Saul Williams in an interview when asked some kinda way what he thaught of the radio n stuff. He was all, ‘radio programming is just that `radio programming.`’ Think about it.
@Humble_One,
love that u threw BCC on there
Operation Lockdown, The Fab 5 songs, Bucktown
@Humble_One,
Raekwon feat. Nas and Ghostface – Verbal Intercourse (Nas was nice before this came out but this verse really put him in that elite group of rappers
this is one of my 10-15 favorite tracks of all-time
“I said a hip.. hop, the hippie.. the hippie to the hip hip hop, and you don’t stop, the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat…”
If you don’t know that phrase right there, you just ain’t black. I’m sorry. When that song comes on, and you even FLUB that line just a little bit, I know you proly had friends named Josh and Billy growin up. I really expect you to know the whole song, but you MUST at least know that line. Extra points if you remember the blue album cover with the rainbow letters.
That is all.
@nia,
“I said a hip.. hop, the hippie.. the hippie to the hip hip hop, and you don’t stop, the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat…”
i always wondered how long it took to write that. i’m thinking somewhere between 90 and 180 seconds.
I co-sign a couple of these.
I would put “I ain’t no joke” up there too because all people have to do is hear those first four words and they know “he used to let his mic smoke…”
Since I’m a deeply entrenched Hiphop head, vinyl archivist and living room DJ, I will keep my personal biases to myself. Good list though.
But hold up…no Rapper’s Delight? No “The Message?” Let me guess…most of ya’ll were born in the 80s right?
@CPT Callamity,
70′s baby here, actually.
@The Champ,
Fellow 70′s baby checkin’ in.
@PBG,
70′s also…
@miss t-lee,
70′s bouncin through check in.
@WuDaMan,
70′s here as well.
I just wanna know where my comment went…did it get moderated? lol
@miss t-lee,
it went to comment heaven, which is located underneath liz’s sock drawer
@The Champ,
I see it showed up so it must have been reincarnated…lol
mylist would include
Dear Mama-2pac
Juicy-Biggie
Parents just dont understand-Fresh Prince and Dj Jazzy Jeff
Push it-Salt N Pepa
The show_Dougie Fresh and Slick Rick
I would include a Childrens Story and Paid in Full remix
Electric Relaxation
how you like me know-Kool Moe Dee
My minds Playing Tricks on Me-Ghetto boy
BAD-LL Cool J
and honerable mention for Me Myself and I-De La Soul, Big Pimpin by J and UGK and Boyz in the hood by NWA and I go to Work by Big Daddy Kane
@Shay-d-lady,– I just had a serious flashback when I read “I’m Bad”. Had the black portion on the office in a rapalong just now.
Admittedly, I’m not a hiphop head. I’ve heard 4 and 5 but I can’t quote any lyrics.
I just can’t believe that NOTHING from my fave group RunDMC is on the list….
but again – I’m not a hiphop head….
@Tazzee,
always thought they were overrated. EPMD was better
@Tazzee, i actually at one point had a Run-DMC song on it…and it would be “walk this way”…however, like Deviant, Run-DMC is only important b/c of timing, not b/c they were any good. lol.
@Panama Jackson,
honestly when I hear people say RunDMC was their fave group that just makes me think they were not exposed to hiphop at a young age. There may have been one radio staion that even played “urban” nmusic where they grew up and they barely played rap or somethin like that and the only concession may have been Run DMC or Rob Base. How an anyone say RunDMC was better than Slick Rick, BDP or EPMD?
@Deviant,
I feel that way about die-hard Pac fans. Most Pac fans are casual rap fans. You can actually follow their taste through hip-hop. They went from Death Row to No Limit to Cash Money and so on. I hope I didn’t upset anyone with this. Pac fans have been known to be violent if you don’t share their views of him.
@Humble_One
I agree with you on that. I liked Pac but I never understood how he became the greatest ever to some people.
@Humble_One,
Hey, I’m a Pac fan, and not violent in the least. However, I can say I am not a fan of none of the No Limit/Cash Money nonsense. So no offense taken….
@N.I.A. naturally…., In the late 90′s Cash Money had the best skits I have ever heard. I think there should be a list of the 20 best skits
@Humble_One,
You beat me to this point.
I’m not a Tupac fan.
These words have gotten me damn near into fistacuffs at record stores /sneaker stores /church functions. His influence can’t be denied; his fanbase is vast and fiercely loyal. His music and message is still relavant today.
I just don’t think he’s the greatest rapper ever. Not by a long shot.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro, If your reply was a women, I would be a sensitive thug behind nukka and it would be Valentine’s Day everyday
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
I am so in agreeance with you on that. I am not TuPac fan either.
@Humble_One,
I feel that way about die-hard Pac fans. Most Pac fans are casual rap fans
you know, i’ve always agreed with this. mind you, i liked pac’s music, but i think that anyone who lists him as the g.o.a.t. doesnt listen to enough rap.
its kind of like how casual sports fans usually like college basketball more than nba, but, for people who actually know and follow the game, its no contest
You know why I like doing lists, especially hip-hop related? Because usually everybody agrees with some of it but nobody ever agrees with all of it and folks will think you’re either non-qualified or unjustified in some choices. Plus people seem to think that 10 songs really equals 100. LOL. That’s what makes doing lists like this really so fun. I just love arguing. I totally love that aspect of making music related lists…
I’m being serious.
With that said…if I had to extend this list to say 20, here goes the next 10.
11. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Summertime
No matter if your 8 or 80, you will hear this song at least 10 times every summer for the rest of your life.
12. ATCQ – Electric Relaxaction
The most notable song on one of the absolute best hiphop albums EVER. I struggled with putting this into the top 10 (and there’s an argument to do so). As soon as that bassline hits, the room is moving. Point blank. Period.
13. Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
I actually can’t fault folks for not knowing this. It’s the only true “it makes it for history’s sake”. I mean, it’s not a good song. It’s only good b/c of what it represents for hip-hop. You should know OF the song, not necessarily know the song.
14. Geto Boys – Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me
It’s that good and one of them songs that folks just love. Though its really a song that should be studied in psychology classes everywhere.
15. Jay – Z – Big Pimpin
Because you know it. and everybody else does too. Even hip-hop heads respec’ Jay.
16. Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick – The Show
Just good hiphop plus it has the world famous “six minutes…six minutes…” Well you can finish the rest…
17. Meth & Mary – All I Need To Get By
perfect song. thru and thru.
18. Wu-Tang – C.R.E.A.M.
For all my Wu heads, this is the quintessential Wu song…though i’m TOTALLY partial to ODB’s whole album and BK Zoo in particular.
19. Nas – THE WHOLE ILLMATIC ALBUM
I just couldn’t pick a song, seriously. You should listen to the whole thing front to back at least 2 times a day for 2 weeks. The rest of his catalog…not so much. LOL. Hate me now, bitches.
20. De La Soul – Me, Myself, and I
This ain’t even my favorite De La song – ON THAT ALBUM. But its the one that put them on the map and sold albums for them that everybody knows. You probably know it but don’t even know you know it.
I could really list songs all day long.
@Panama Jackson,
*second gold star stamp of approval*
@Panama Jackson, Tangle Jig P, The Arsonist, YouDaMan.
Homage. I see where you comin from and yeah you real w/ sticking to the parameters of the post.
@Panama Jackson, I like this list better than the first
@Panama Jackson,
Perfection extended.
I approve.
after writing my list I realize that a lot of the songs are songs that many who weren’t 80′s or early 90′s babies wouldn’t have an opportunity to…so then you have to chose songs that are in rotation on old school sundays and shyt and the younger folks have access to it as well as songs that overcome regional differences…looking at it from that perspective makes me appreciate pjs list a tiny bit more
@shay-d-lady, sometimes it takes a while for folks to appreciate my greatness. its okay, it always comes.
House of Pain – Jump Around
@Deviant,
only the Pete Rock remix.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
I dont know about that. the original version been gettin play for about 15 years now. people still jump off that like its new
Not sure if these have been mentioned, but just in case…these aren’t top 10 necessarily, but good enough to be mentioned
Camp Lo – Luchini
Nas – The World Is Yours
Ghostface – Winter Warz (Cappadonna’s Verse especially)
UGK – Let Me See It
DJ Quik – Black P*ssy
AMG – B*tch Betta Have My Money
Akinyele – Put It In Your Mouth
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out & Doin’ It
Tribe – Award Tour
Kool G Rap – Ill Street Blues
I’ll stop here so I can be productive at work today…
@Cornell Westside,
that Kool G Rap was the sh!t
@Cornell Westside,
UGK – Let Me See It
::applause::
@Cornell Westside,
“Luchini” is the slept on buttterz..
More heads should’ve bought “Uptown Saturday Night”
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro, you think Luchini is slept on??
that album maybe, but let me tell you, Camp Lo has made a whole career around that song. lol. everybody knows it.
Trivia: Do you know that Jay-Z did everything in his power to get Ski to give him the Luchini beat instead of Camp Lo, to include a suitcase full of money for it. Of course, since Ski was developing Camp Lo he kept it and gave Jay the “Feelin’ It” beat instead.
Can y’all imagine a 1996 Jay-Z on the Luchini beat??!?!
@Panama Jackson,
“Can y’all imagine a 1996 Jay-Z on the Luchini beat??!?!”
I just did, and my head and heart damn near exploded.
@blackberry molasses, I had a moment as well.
@Cornell Westside,
Camp Lo – Luchini
That whole Camp Lo album was HOT FIYAH! I remember i was like 16 working at Einstein’s Bros. Bagels bumping it in the back washing dishes… my manager would be like “Whats that???” she was a 2520…
I think a Pac song needs to be on here. I think it needs to be Brenda’s Got A Baby (the birth of the sensitive thug).
I’d also put LL on here. I Need Love (birth of rappers as generic sex symbol)
Latifah – U.N.I.T.Y
@Tyler,
Sensitive thug just seems like a term that should be erased from existence. Just doesnt seem right.
LL has sucked ball$ since he became an adult
@Tyler, I’d argue that Brenda’s Got a Baby didn’t birth the sensitive thug. I think that song showed that rappers could be socially aware.
Keep Ya Head up might have spawned the sensitive thug.
@Panama Jackson,
Fair point. My choice of words was poor. To your point tho, wouldn’t we need to include The Message as the song that showed rappers could be socially aware?
@Tyler, I’d agree with that. Though I think b/c the song, though “deep” is pretty terrible, even for its time, I couldn’t put it on any list. LOL.
MORE SHOTS FIRED.
@Tyler,
Dang i know, not one Pac song. Maybe it’s just because i’m from Cali but im pretty sure a hellova lot of people know I Get Around.
I’d put LL on there if it was extended to 25 maybe.
@Captain Morgan,
I Get Around was a great song. I just like Digital Underground tho. I had the albums no one else had like Future Rhythm. I’m not ashamed.
@Deviant
I agree LL sucks now and has for quite a while, but it would be wrong to just forget his early (often great) work.
Folks I was torn between Brenda’s Got A Baby and I Get Around. How bout both?
@Tyler,
when he was young he was good. after the roids he sucks
@Deviant,
word.
ODB – Brooklyn Zoo, Shimmy Shimmy Ya, Goin Down, Dirty Dancin, for that metter anything he has grunted or yelled on cause ehe was aweomse
@Deviant, ODB’s first album was some of the most classic music ever created.
@Panama Jackson,
that album is the handbook of my life.
@Deviant,
LOL
@Panama Jackson,
here here
As an official hip-hop connesiour I’m oblidged to offer these gems that are guaranteed to get necks bobbing:
Gangstarr Feat. Nice and Smooth – Dwyck
Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is / I get more props and stunts than Bruce Willis = flavor
ATCQ- “Bonita Applebum”
Main Source – “Live At the BBQ” (the first mainstream recordings for both Akinyele and Nas)
Main Source: “Just Hangin’ Out”
MOP: “How About Some Hardcore” or “Ante Up” ( MOP’s stuff is music to hit the gym with)
Boogie Down Productions/KRS-One: “My Philosophy”
King Tee: “Dippin’” Remix (Sunday coolout isht)
The Alkoholiks – “Make Room” (This beat goes hard. Seriously.)
Guru Feat. Branford Marsalis & Chaka Khan – “Watch What You Say” (From the 2nd “Jazzmatazz” album)
Blackstar Feat. Common – “Respiration”
The Roots – Too many to name. Possibly the most innovative hip-hop group ever.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
great list sir
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro, it is a good list. Dwyck is DEFINITELY on a Top 10 hip-hop heads breakneck list.
@Panama Jackson,
Yes!!! I was so crunk when Nice and Smooth performed their bit when I saw ‘em back in Nov.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
You are official sir. Hangin Out and Watch What You say was my ish.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
This is a great list!!!
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
Brava!! Great list. I especially appreciate B!tch Betta Have My Money. The Root’s are my favorite but they just aren’t popular with most people. At least they’re respected though.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
Damn if you don’t have me in my office bopping my head like I’m listening to music… good list
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
respiration – three of my fav s…at the same time. niiice.
the seed 2.0 neva eva gets skipped on mipod
i am not what most would consider a “hip hop head”, but i know and love all the songs you and Peej listed. yall are on point today!!
this is kind of random but ppl’s comments about one/some of Pac’s songs being on the list got me to reminiscing.
about a year and a half ago, i was taking some kids i work with at my church rollerskating. as i’m driving, one of the boys in my car starts the following convo…
youngin: ms. [gem], you know who my favorite rapper is?
me: ummm no? who?
youngin: tupac
me: *puzzled look* how old are you?
youngin: 13
me: what do you know about Pac?? you were, what, all of 2 when he died?
youngin: i know a lot. my dad listens to his music all the time and i like it.
bless his lil heart. he just tickled me so!! i was like, what could a pubescent teen possibly know about Afeni’s son, enough so to be his FAVORITE rapper?? i guess his daddy is raising him right. i mean, the child could have said somebody outrageous like Soulja Boy or Plies or whoever else that will be obsolete soon enough…
@GEMazing,
*beaming* i lurve this story!
@GEMazing, this is a great story. I love that at 13 he can appreciate good hip-hop
@GEMazing,
hmmmm. not sure i’d start throwing “parent of the year” around just because a guy let their son listen to some violent-ass , misogynistic music. for every “i aint mad at cha” pac released there were two “bomb firsts” and “what yo phone number’s”. again, i loved pac, but i dont know if i’d play makaveli while my adolescent son was in the whip with me
@The Champ, i was thinking the same thing but didn’t want to be the “aww the kid loves ‘Pac” kill joy.
im like…word?? i’m guessing he’s listening to All Eyez On Me Pac which aintn exactly that feel good music.
i love it, but it aint for my kids. lol.
@The Champ,
I thought exactly that.
@The Champ, PJ, Sula,
ya know, i thought that too at first but then i thought back to when i first fell in love with hip hop (word to brown sugar) and that’s around the time i really started paying attention to it and i was definitely listening to some stuff my mama wouldn’t have liked. but she raised me well and i had a good head on my shoulders so i wasn’t trippin’ behind what i was hearing, trying to imitate it, etc.
i was into it before then because my older cousin was and i was at their house all the time but buying stuff on my own, actually hearing the words, beats, etc. of the songs that had been already been in my world and starting to appreciate it started around that time.
so i guess the difference is that the kid is gonna hear it anyway versus the parent introducing it which had me on the fence and i agree that can be tricky depending on so many factors regarding the kid, the parent, their relationship and all that jazz. i wonder if the parent discusses this with him?
there’s all kinds of talk on here today about parents not raising kids right in the world of hip hop and here’s an example of one who is, right? how and when is the proper time to introduce your kid nowadays to better rap music? cause kidz bop ain’t gonna cut it…
@SouthernGirl,
i really started paying attention to it and i was definitely listening to some stuff my mama wouldn’t have liked
I think that’s a key sentence to what you just said. You didn’t listen to it through your mama. You listened to it unbeknownst of your mama.
If someone listens to “f*ck ‘em b*tches” raps with their dad, they might end up holding it up as truth.
I’ll listen to it, but I won’t introduce my child to it. If you see what I mean?
@Sula-in-training,
i see you and that’s what i referenced later in my comment. i wouldn’t do that either but my question is, how do you do it if you choose to? it’s been said in many comments today that if you don’t know xyz song your mama didn’t raise you right. and i realize that may have been said in a facetious manner but still.
would this be acceptable if he was 16, 17 (or just plain older) and the daddy was discussing the nuances of the beat, lyrics, this is entertainment, this is what not to do, etc? or would this be a discussion to have if the daddy didn’t introduce him to it and only caught him with it at his current age?
PBG said upthread that her daughter knows all the words to ‘children’s story’ and while i realize that’s not exactly on par with pac, it still goes back to the question of how you go about such a thing. maybe it’s also the difference between the type of hip hop rather than the idea of introducing hip hop as a whole?
i remember being in the car with my daddy one day when i was younger and he was playing too short for a minute and i definitely remember wondering why the hell he was playing that in front of me. but my daddy is…well, that’s a whole ‘nother story. but based on my relationship with my mama and things she and i had already discussed i wasn’t trippin’ off of it, trying to imitate it, etc.
*shrug*
i’m really just wondering and not trying to point fingers at anybody’s parenting skills. but just knowing how i was and that kids often get introduced to these things outside of their parents and run rampant with no guidance, i’m just wondering about the other side. could it be better to introduce it yourself and start a dialouge at whatever age you see as appropriate?
i guess i’ve got my devil’s advocate hat on today.
wow, i just wrote a reply that said something similar to yours and i hadn’t even read your response yet.
my thing was CERTAINLY facetious about the “parenting” in direct response to mad heads up on here saying ppl’s parents failed them if they didn’t know the songs listed on here.
i’m not linking music to quality of parenting AT ALL. really, what you let your kid watch and listen to can have varying affects depending on all the OTHER parenting going on. but hell, if ppl wanna talk about what hip hop they will and won’t let their kids listen to, the same argument could be made for r&b/soul music. grown folk talk is grown folk talk. bottom line.
@GEMazing, that’s so funny. we are –>HERE<–
*terrorist fist bump to SG*
@The Champ,
LMAO wowwwww!! who said anything about throwing out “parent of the year”?? are you effing kiddin me?? come on– do better!!
ppl on here (esp Peej) have been throwin around this notion that ppl’s parents have “failed” them in life if they don’t know/love x, y, and z song. hence me saying “i guess his daddy is raising him right”.
i’ve been dealing with this kid for 2 years, i know all about his struggles and issues at school and his shortcomings. i know exactly how and in what areas his parents are failing him. thank you, mr. know-it-all.
@GEMazing, Hi E-Prima **WAVING**
I have two stories relating to this…
First:
My 5 & 6 year old(at the time) nieces in the back seat of my car as I bump some old school in my car, I turned the music down to hear what they were arguing about and hear this,
the 5 year old to the 6 year old: ” you don’t know nothing about hip hop”
me to the 5 year old: “and what do you know about hip hop?”
5 year old to me: ” more than she does!”
ME: **DEAD**
second:
this past weekend at my line sister’s house.
Line sister’s husband speaking to their 3 year old son: “want to toast Spanky?”
3 year old brings plastic cup with him as he walks over to his dad, raises his cup to meet his dad’s glass… 3 year old says: “a toast to crime!”
both scenarios I was like what in the name of Dr. Spock?!?!
Funny as h3ll
@Intellectual Hedonist,
A toast to crime?? From the lil’ baby?? A baby named Spanky???
*bereft of life*
@PBG, no his dad calls him Spanky like from the little rascals.
But he and his sister are well versed in hip hop old and new. I guess that is what happens when your parents are from Brooklyn and Biggie’s death is the reason you got back together (long story)
@Intellectual Hedonist, im’ma really need you to break this down for me cause i just can’t.
@SouthernGirl, break what down?
@Intellectual Hedonist, the biggie thing. lol. at least a short version since he’s inspiring love and sh!t from the grave when you know he couldn’t keep a happy home.
@Southern Girl,
oh that… well they had broken up, but they were both HUGE Biggie fans, being from Brooklyn and all. So when Biggie died she called him to ask him how he was taking the news. In true male fashion he was like oh I’m cool, but that call sparked the begining of conversation which led them to start dating which led to their marriage.
The last dance at their reception was to Biggie. It was hot…. anyway
@Intellectual Hedonist,
I totally got that. Why did you explain it and kill the funny?
@Intellectual Hedonist,
e-prima *waving* i love ALL stories involving your nieces. they seem sooooo cute!! matta fact, i may need to introduce them to my nephews lol. they about the same age.
as some one who isn’t a hip hop head (becuz i just like what i like–and if i don’t like it i don’t like it that don’t mean that i’m hatin) i can appreciate the way i was brought up in hip hop. my older (by 18yrs) bro put me up on the music long before i hit my teenage years. at the time my bro was a huge PE and NWA fan, and eventually Pac. my parents didn’t appreciate or approve of me listening to “rap”. my dad says [to this day] “that sh*t is rotting your brain, i can see you gettin dumber by the minute” so you know what i was/am dealin with– particularly the fact that i didn’t need to listen to hip hop or watch rated R movies to hear vulgar language lol.
and yet, even having listened to hard core “gangster” rap (it was RAMPANT in socal) and hip hop with explicit lyrics since a very young age, i didn’t grow up allowing men to disrespect me, call me a ho, treat me like some video broad, or act fast. i also didn’t curse much (depending on which friends i was with), use the word “n*gga” or find thugs particularly appealing. in fact, i was the goody-goody straight-A student all thru grade school. but i attribute my good habits and behavior to good parenting in ALL other aspects of my life.
*shrugs* i say that to say there’s not always a nexus between parenting and music likability/awareness.
i know im kinda young, but here’s my list:
atcq- find a way
onyx- slam
any biggie song (im from nyc:))
tupac- ambitionz as a ridah
roots- break you off (i know this is kinda r&b-ish, but i still think it counts)
the lox and lil kim- money, power, respect
dmx- where my dogs at
jay-z- money, cash, h***
big pimpin
city is mine (I was in the 7th grade when I first heard this song… this made me a fan of hip-hop)
mop- ante up
cold as ice
cuban link- still tellin lies
big pun- i don’t wanna be a player
big pun ft. cuban link and triple seis- bet ya’ man can’t do it like that
@laylah, that might be the MOST interesting list of songs i’ve ever seen in my life.
@Panama Jackson,
im just an interesting kind of gal. haha.
@Panama Jackson,
lol…yeah. i think she just hit “random” on her ipod and named the first 10 songs that played
@The Champ,
so not true.
@laylah, if you are from Brooklyn and live remotely close to a hood, MOP’s Ante Up has gotten many a man robbed
@Pey-SO,
Not to buy into negative stereotypes about hip-hop, but “Ante Up” will have a normally mild-mannered person ready to hurt somethin’
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
but it is a GREAT gym track. Gets me through that last mile…
@blackberry molasses,
True indeed sis…true indeed. I’ve used it for distance running and boxing. If you’ve got a pulse, that song will amp the fcuk outta you…
I’m throwing these in the ring:
Today was a Good Day – Ice Cube
I Got it Made – Special Ed
@shhwhisper, i’d argue for “I got it made” only b/c its one of my personal favorites. lol.
“i got a treaty with Tahiti, so i got a percent”
@Panama Jackson,
“Ever other week I get a brand new car
Got twenty, that’s plenty yet I still want more
Kinda fond of honda scooters–got seventy-four”
@shhwhisper,
I got a frog, a dog with a solid gold bone.
@shhwhisper,
I love “I got it made”… i’m bout to find it and listen. This is the perfect “gas ur own head up” song
I would like to add LL Cool J
–Mama Said Knock You Out
–Around The Way Girl
@N.I.A. naturally…., LL Cool J was a tough one for me. on my original list of just songs, I had like 4 LL songs.
I’m Bad
Mama Said Knock You Out
Rock The Bells
I Need Love
all of those would be in the top 50.
@Panama Jackson,
Other than “I’m Bad” I think that LL performed better on Rampage w/ EPMD than the rest of those songs you listed.
@Humble_One, i feel you though i’m not talking about performance as much as impact. like how many people remember that song?
and i’d say that LL Cool J on “rock the bells” was at his most spirited. that and “mama said knock you out.”
did anyone add Tupac “Keep your Head Up”???
that was my all time fave:-)
Happy Friday Everyone Wishing you a Pleasant weekend!!!
@Jenna Marie Christian,
thank you, jenna marie. have a good weekend and sh*t too
@The Champ,
lol…thank you dear:-) that’s very kind of you!
Oldschool ones 2520′s are most likely to know:
Sir Mix a Lot – Baby got Back
Tone Loc – Wild Thing
Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise
2 Live Crew – Me So Horny??? (“Me Love You Long Time” is such a classic line)
@shhwhisper, i was actually gonna do another list similar to this…but it would definitely include songs like “me so horny” and “wild thing”
stuff like 10 songs you know whether you want to or not. lol.
@Panama Jackson,
stuff like 10 songs you know whether you want to or not. lol
i was actually thinking about doing this next week, or at least a 10 rap songs all white people know list
@The Champ,
make sure The Crossroads, Gangsta’s Paradise, Baby Got Back, and anything by the Beastie Boys is on there.
I can’t top that list, but I wanted to add…
The Show – Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh
Know the Ledge (Juice) – Erik B. and Rakim
Treat Em Right – Chubb Rock
Sound of Da Police – KRS One
C.R.E.A.M. – Wu Tang Clan
Fight the Power – Public Enemy
Outkast – Player’s Ball
I apologize for any duplicates, but I didn’t read all of the posts.
@Voiceofreason,
I’m cosigning Player’s Ball. You guys are too good, I’m about to make a playlist.
@shhwhisper,
how is it no one even mentioned Outkast before now?
@Deviant,
I don’t know, there’s so many of their songs that are classics: B.O.B., So Fresh and So Clean, SpottieOttieDopaliscious (my personal fave). I would even add newer ones like International Player’s Anthem.
@shhwhisper,
so fresh and so clean is so good. only they can say “gator belts and patty melts and monte carlos” and make it sound like some really cool ish…
@laylah,
I hate ring tones, but I’ll admit that I have one right now and it’s “So Fresh, So Clean.”
@Voiceofreason, Well, if you gotta have a ring tone, that’s not a bad one to have.
I used to sing the hook to “So Fresh, So Clean” to my son as a bath time song. Funny, but that’s just the mama they got! LOL!
@Voiceofreason,
Ain’t nobody dope as me, I’m just so fresh, so clean (so fresh and so clean, clean).
I sing this everytime I get dolled up to go somewhere. Yes, I’m a cornball. I don’t care.
@shhwhisper,
feel you on this…SpottieOttieDopaliscious….It’s just my interpretation of the situation..great line
@Deviant,
Riiiiiiiiight?
I am sensing some slight South Bias around these parts…
@Sula-in-training, I really hope not. lol. i actually have been thinking about them all day but got stuck trying to figure out what to list: player’s ball? elevators? so fresh so clean? i hurt just thinking about it.
@Deviant, my favs are return of the gangstar and wheels o steel
@Voiceofreason, i’m not sure if you know how HUGE fan of Outkast I am and how much i STRUGGLED with not putting them in my top 10. more people knwo of Ms. Jackson than Players’ Ball though…
@Panama Jackson,
Really? When I think of Outkast that’s the 1st song that comes to mind. But then again Andre 3000 and Big Boi are my favorite rappers. The 1st time I heard Player’s Ball I was hooked. I’ve been a fan ever since.
@Panama Jackson, so is the list the most popular rap songs ever?
@Pey-SO, no its not, but when you think of songs that you should just know it takes on two meanings, either you should know them as fans of hiphop, OR you should know them b/c of how popular they were. i think both suffice here though i lean more towards the first.
b/c the latter would include MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. but that’s a list in the making.
i also feel that these are songs you should know just bc they’re that good which is why they’re so popular in teh first place.
Addendum to my previous list of neckbreakers that I can’t believe I forgot:
“Come Clean” – Jeru the Damaja
You cannot claim to be a hip-hop head and not know this song…
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
WOAH! Jeru the Damaga
Okay. You rock. Like in Dolby Digital Surround Sound.
So it was written…
With the exception of #2, 3, 6 , and 9 these songs were sung at the Inauguration on the Mall on Tuesday by me and the crew of folk I was with…
I also wanna add Passin’ Me By, by the Pharcyde.
@Voiceofreason,
…and I Used to Love H.E.R. – Common
@Voiceofreason,
yes yes yes!!!!
@Voiceofreason,
I also wanna add Passin’ Me By, by the Pharcyde.
this is in my all-time top five
@The Champ, really? its not even in my top 100. LOL.
KEEPS FIRING SHOTS!
@Panama Jackson, you mean you didn’t dig this back n the day? Come on Panama what was her name? Was you going through some sort of break up n this was yall song? I can’t see not liking it. Cuz 4 real in my younger days I used to sport a shag.
@WuDaMan, its a good song. i just tend to forget it even exists. i was never really a pharcyde fan though.
@Panama Jackson,
really? its not even in my top 100. LOL.
since you dont have a soul, what do you store in place of the spot where your soul would be?
@The Champ, grape jelly. all grape jelly.
i’m not joking either (about the pharcyde). lol.
@Panama Jackson, alright in your de-fense Panama @ rock da bells last summer (the murrrlund show). The croud did’t stand up too much for the Pharcyde n Fat Lip n em. I like to blame the heat.
I agree with many songs on the list and others the fam has listed. However, there’s no way I can agree with “T.R.O.Y.” being atop. Common’s “I Used To Love H.E.R.” and Eminen’s “Stan” has been unjustly overlooked. Hell, Eminem’s catalog was overlooked.
My President is Black, but my favorite rapper is white. Yeah, I said it. Detroit WHAT!!
@Monk, lol. you REALLY think that I Used To Love H.E.R. is a better song than T.R.O.Y.?
Beat included? I’ve NEVER even seen people mention that I Used to Love H.E.R. beat. folks like the song. beat’s okay.
T.R.O.Y. is largely considered one of the best beats in hiphop history.
And Stan is a great song. i can live without it.
@Monk,
but my favorite rapper is white
I can’t believe u said that, lol… i’m scared to admit a lot of things. I would be scared to admit this heh heh heh.
I just wanted to make a couple of observations
1. The comments section of this post is kind of giving the lay of the land as to people’s ages/musical upbringings….
i.e. older hip hop being called ‘nostalgia’ vs. newer hip hop getting a dismissive sniff … interesting….
2. The VSB’s have come out to play, and notably, the VSS’s are somewhat silent. Also interesting….
that’s all. carry on.
@blackberry molasses, menfolks love music arguments.
Hell, if you EVER want to really have a full convo with me…just start talking to me about music. Hit me up on AIM and we can argue all day about it. LOL. Seriously.
@blackberry molasses,
LOL… there’s no way I was going to bypass VSB today. Too juicy a topic to stay away from… just hard. I had to make a list. Two lists actually… i’m off to prepare my second list
@blackberry molasses, I’m trying to participate as much as i can! cause i always wind up having this discussion/arguement with my boys. but i have like, three reports floating on my desk today and too many people asking me to actually do sh!t.
@blackberry molasses,
i typically don’t “argue” or get into extended conversations about music. UNLESS it’s about music composed for orchestras (i’m a bassist, i love to play and hear the sound of stringed instruments)– i could talk about symphonies til no end. but everything else, all other genres, i get bored. becuz i like what I like. and what anybody else says about it is just their opinion. granted, i like to be opened up to music i haven’t heard before (old and new) but that’s it. most hip hop head’s analysis and break down of a song, while potentially interesting, does NOT change what my ear hears, cochlea transduces, or cortex processes. thanks for the insight but it’s of no consequence.
my auditory cortical map lets me know i enjoy a broad range of sounds and i completely trust its layout.
This is hard… a list of hip hop songs black people should know or lose cool points???
I’m reppin for my female Mc’s cuz i haven’t seen one song by a female on anyone’s lists… and female Mc’s have contributed to hip hop history. So at the beginning of my list I’m shouting out classics by female hip hop artists.
-Cha Cha Cha – Mc Lyte
-Cappuchino – Mc Lyte
- Keep on Keeping on – Mc Lyte (i love this song)
-Paperthin – Mc Lyte
-Ruffneck – Mc Lyte
-Ladies First – Queen Latifah
-UNITY – Queen Latifah
-Just Another Day – Queen Latifah
- Latifah’s had it up to Here – Queen Latifah
-Push it – Salt n Pepa
-Lets Talk about Sex – Salt n Pepa
-Shake Your Thang – Salt n Pepa
- My Mic Sounds Nice – Salt n Pepa
-Monie in the Middle – Monie Love
-Ring my Bell – Monie Love
-It’s a Shame – Monie Love
-Supersonic – JJ Fad
-What Ya’ll Want – Eve
- Who’s that Girl- Eve
-Funkdafied – Da Brat
-Lost Ones – Lauryn Hill
- Any Lauryn verse
-The Rain – Missy
-She’s A Bitch – Missy
-Lick Shots – Missy
- Get Ur Freak On – Missy
-Hot Boyz – Missy
-Uknowhowwedo- Bahamadia
-3 da Hard Way – Bahamadia
-Any Bahamadia verse
ok… that’s enough. Just offering a different perspective…
@pgh muse, The consummate feminist…I LOVE IT! You are so great for that.
@PBG,
Awww thank you, Girl. I’m sayin’. We can’t get 1 song?!?! Music these days really does suck, and if you were born in the 90′s (gasp!) u prolly think the only female MC’s that ever existed were Kim and Foxy. sigh…
@pgh muse, they weren’t overlooked b/c they’re women, but it would be unfair of me to put any of those on the list strictly b/c it was by a woman. i mean, name one song on there that would replace anything in the top 10 i listed.
mind you, i love Queen Latifah’s stuff, especially “latifah’s had it up to here” i LOVE that joint. and quite a few others but would you really be surprised if someobdy didn’t know Ladies First?
U.N.I.T.Y is the only possible contender for the top 20.
Though, “Let’s talk About Sex” was a popular song, well the remix anyway. So maybe that one.
I mean for all those songs, you listed 10 actual women. by sheer numbers alone its gonna be difficult.
and um…y’all might hate me for this, but you CAN’T BE SERIOUS about Bahamadia. she benefited from her voice. that’s it. other than that, she sucked.
That was my problem with vh1′s list, they put Missy in there like she deserved to be there. and she didn’t. they wanted to put a woman in there so they did. and i think it discredits their list. lucky for me, i couldn’t care less about appeasing people.
@Panama Jackson,
they put Missy in there like she deserved to be there. and she didn’t. they wanted to put a woman in there so they did
I will agree with this to the extent of Missy’s MC skills… but Missy was a hip hop artist… and a very talented one at that. She is a greater talent than say ODB… who grunted and shouted his way to notoriety. Missy wrote and co-produced her music… and she sang a little.
But back to defending my list. Your criteria for your list is songs Black people should know or lose cool points… so I’ll agree with you about Bahamadia (and she DOES NOT bite). But almost all the songs I chose by female artists were popular in their day and were very relevant, because a concise list on this topic would really be too hard and because I’m female… I think any of my female classics can replace any of the songs on your list. So there ;-P
@ Panama,
And Missy had a whole STYLE that was hot. Her music was hot, even if what she said was dumb, it was still hot. She deserved to be there cause she was an innovator. Her whole style was funky and innovative. She deserves her place.
@pgh muse, no No NO! Missie deserves some honerable mention but only for what she’s done made some club bangers but that’s it. She belongs in a catagory w/ biz markie and dudes who make house music. Dirt McGirt does not deserve to be put down to being compared to Missie Elliot. There I said it.
SHOTS FIRED!
@ Wu and Deviant,
i’m sorry… and i love ODB but MISSY was talented… ODB was barely coherent half the time!! How can u say comparing him to Missy is a put down??? Comparing his to Missy is putting Missy down really.. but women always got to work twice as hard. ODB was drunk and high half the time he was on the mic…
@pgh muse, you ever heard of the term enibriated learning? Well ODB was a drunken rap master. Take that n missie psht can’t get w/ him. I think that this compromise would have to be something like popularity in respective genre’s. Because seperate ain’t equal (I’m rambling). It’s like trying to compare wayne gretskie to tiger woods. Just not a fair comparison. And I think that some of our argument here is an argument over which genre is better. Missie’s speaks to your soul n Osiris speaks to ours musicly or somthing like that.
@pgh muse,
blashphemy
@pgh muse, I don’t take anything from what Missy’s able to do. You’re right, she writes, produces, innovates, etc. That’s all great. However, but Missy’s “Get Ur Freak On” was #16 on that list. You can’t tell me that wasn’t pandering to women or trying to fill a slot. Songs it was listed above Geto Boys – Minds Playing Tricks On Me, Pete Rock and CL Smooth “They Reminisce Over You”, Slick Rick “Children’s Story”.
I don’t think so. There’s no way in Hell you can convince me that THAT PARTICULAR SONG (the list was 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs) deserves to be on that list. Period. It wasn’t greatest innovation in hip-hop.
And I not only like, but own, every single song you mentioned in your list. But, I could live without most of them.
All of the songs I have listed rose above the crowd of other rappers and songs of their time. Short of Queen Latifah, nobody else really did. Salt-n-Pepa had their moments, but nobody’d ever confuse them with good rappers.
@Panama Jackson,
the songs I have listed rose above the crowd of other rappers and songs of their time
Are u really saying that MC Lyte’s music wasn’t exceptional? MC Lyte was DOPE. Even if her flow was simple, the whole package, music, rhyme delivery was exceptional. That’s why it’s hard to quantify music. I love MC Lyte… i love her more than i love some male artists that you may think are better. But there is so much good music that it makes it hard. I think every song that I listed is a good song and has it’s place… you could do without them. and that’s ok. But at a place in time in my life and maybe a lot of other hip hop loving little girls lives these songs were THE TRUTH.
@Panama Jackson,
And Cappuchino was an awesome song. The imagery was great and I think her style in this song predates a lot of male artists that did it after her. But people never give credit where it’s due.
@pgh muse, because a concise list on this topic would really be too hard and because I’m female… I think any of my female classics can replace any of the songs on your list. So there ;-P
i know you’re joking and all (i think you are) but what of these songs is even better than Black Sheep “the choice is yours”? and i really want to know your opinion on that.
@Panama Jackson,
Not on that list but Digable Planet- Rebirth of Slick is better than Black Sheep – The Choice is Yours and yayyy there’s a female emcee in there.
I would argue that Lil Kim’s The Jumpoff and Lighter’s Up are better than The Choice is Yours too but I might be reaching.
@Panama Jackson,
ok. Maybe not better. Black Sheep’s Choice is Yours is an exceptional song. And all your songs are standout classics. But a list of 10 is too short, bcuz a lot of classic songs are omitted. Cha Cha Cha could be on a list of Classic Hip Hop songs. Absolutely. And I think that any black person should know it. Or lose points. So if your a male and don’t know any classic Hip Hop songs featuring female MC’s u should learn some.
@Panama Jackson,
Push It was on quite a few movie soundtracks and in commercials. I would argue for this one at least being in the top 20.
@shhwhisper, yup.
@shhwhisper, there’s an argument to be made there. i’d agree. not sure i’d agree with putting it in the top 20 though.
@pgh muse, I love your dedication to the cause of feminism. But only one song on there I’d dare put on the list w/any of the 20 songs PeeJay put out there. That would be Queen Latifah’s U.N.I.T.Y. And I love most of those songs, but they just aren’t on par w/PeeJay’s list.
@pgh muse, I love this list so much!!!
@N.I.A. naturally….,
Thank you, girl. I just wish i could remember that song by Oaktown 357 – that song was HOT, i just can’t remember the name.
@pgh muse,
Was it that song that went “yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, aw yeah”?
@shhwhisper,
I don’t know!!! But I DO know the song your talking about and am trying to remember!! It’s going to kill me! But it will come to me later when i’m doing something else!
@shhwhisper,
Yes That Oaktown’s 357– the song was called “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”
If I look hard enough, I still have the cassette single…lol
@pgh muse,
i LOVE keep on keepin on. i first heard in in sunset park, with rita perlman and dude from onyx.
@pgh muse,
The ladies do have to at least get mentioned, I’d add:
Roxanne Shante and the Real Roxanne – Roxanne Wars
YoYo – You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo
If Bahamadia gets a mention maybe Lady Of Rage, Afro Puffs can too.
Lil Kim, Hardcore – I don’t care what nobody says, I love this cd.
@shhwhisper,
Lil Kim, Hardcore – I don’t care what nobody says, I love this cd
I personally think that Kim is one of ILLEST, like her rhyme capability and delivery, she’s awesome!! the basis of her subject matter is questionable… but that woman’s got talent. I didn’t put her on the list bcuz she’s obvious. Well to me anyway and i was just showing some love to the ladies that may be forgotten. I forgot all about the Lady of Rage!!! I’m going to have to download Afro Puffs! I didn’t forget Yo Yo… I remember that song Black Pearl…but u just made me think of Can’t Play with My Yo Yo (don’t try to play me out!!!
:)
@pgh muse,
Kim wrote close to none of her better songs/ verses/guest appearances. She was ghostwritten like a mug. Still like some of her music though.
Let’s just say that not too long after Biggie died, the quality of her rhymes went south. But I ain’t say it. I’m just repeating….
Same for Foxy Brown. She pissed off Jigga and now where is her career?
@blackberry molasses,
Kim wrote close to none of her better songs/ verses/guest appearances. She was ghostwritten like a mug
People are saying this. I don’t know. I know that JayZ was writing for Foxy. I always thought that Kim wrote her own lyrics. Idk.
@pgh muse, Biggie wrote most of Kim’s hottest shyt.
But I can’t front…lil 24yr old PBG was lovin’ herself some “Hardcore”. I knew that CD backward and forward! LOL!
@pgh muse,
Okay. Now to address the rest of your comment. I agree with about 4 of the artists and some of the songs on your list– that they belong on some Greatest/Top list.
None of em are Missy songs. Sorry. Love her as an innovator and an artist, but she is NOT a hip hopper.
I totally agree with Lauryn and kinda wonder where any of her songs fall in Peej’s listing, but given the criteria, much of what she’s done doesn’t fall into the top 10. Its not that its not GREAT. It just can’t compete with the 10 he listed. She would make my top 12 though. As #11. Especially ANYTHING she did on The Score.
MC Lyte gets in (but not all the songs you listed… go back further) on GP and the fact that she had some killer songs, and is still writing. And in my humble opine, she could burn up a mic.
Queen Latifah… she’s Queen for a reason.
Monie Love…. jury’s still out.
S’n P were extremely entertaining, and their music gets the party crunk but lyrically, they’re not quite there.
Eve? She’s a Philly girl and I got MAD love for her but…
Everyone else…good stuff, but not TOP 10 good. Not even TOP 20 .
And this is the opine of a fellow progressive femme.
Sorry I’m late. I hate Comcast.
These lists are all great but I would like to add a couple:
Wu-Tang Clan – Triumph
Jay-Z – Hard Knock Life
And the Flava in Your Ear Remix.
And Keith Murray – The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World
Oh, and ‘Scenario’
And um, Cypress Hill – How I could just kill a man…
That’s it…
Honorable Mentions
Mobb Deep -Shook Ones or Quiet Storm
Ghostface Killah – Chercez La Ghost … but maybe I love it more for the singing than the rapping
2pac – Me and My Girlfriend … noticed a lot of debate on Pac, I think this one’s a classic.
@shhwhisper, i was trying to figure out where to put Shook Ones, Pt II this morning while brushing my teeth. it goes in the top 30 definitely.
@shhwhisper,
“My Girlfriend” is my 2nd most favorite Pac song
Another bump for those not digging through these comments:
The RUb Radio…hiphop mixes by year. Tracklistings are under the link. Enjoy!
http://www.itstherub.com/radio.htm
@CPT Callamity,
you might me my new best friend. especially since my job blocked every other music site that exists.
@laylah,
I do this all day…knowledge is power.
Some underground classics…
Flava In Ya Ear Remix – Craig Mack, Biggie, Busta, LL, Rampage, Diddy
Intro to DMX’s “It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot” album
How High (original) – as well as any Redman/Method Man collabo i.e. Da Rockwilder
It’s All About the Benjamins – P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family, this is still the #1 club banger of all time. Disagreement is futile.
It Blows My Mind – Snoop & Pharrell, this is on everyone’s playlist for “uplifting” oneself
@Cornell Westside,
i agree, very good. but how is this underground?
@laylah,
i’m scatterbrained that’s how lol…the first song i thought of was the DMX intro which was never a single….
@Cornell Westside,
if you wanna see scatterbrained, look at my list above. they were gettin on me for it
it’s alright though… i still approve my list.
@laylah, I was gonna ask the same question….
lol
There are really too many great songs to come up with a short list of Hip Hop songs that one should know as a Black person or cool points be lost… and isn’t that really relative to an individual’s musical tastes?? ne who, here are some hip hop songs ( or albums) that I love and think that if you don’t love them something’s wrong wit u
- Get by – Talib Kweli
- the whole Do you want more album by the Roots (or any album by the roots)
- Made u look by Nas – illmatic is an easy answer… you can take any song from Nas’ catalog really. I pick this one today cause i just heard it.
-The Pillage – Cappadonna – the whole album.
-Supreme Clientele Ghostface whole album
-Camay -Ghostface
-Daytona 500 Ghostface
-Hail Mary 2pac from Makavelli
-The whole Reasonable Doubt album
-The whole S. Carter album
-No Escaping this- Beatnuts
-Aquemeni – whole album
-Southerplayalisticadillacmusik – whole album
-Anything Biggie ever wrote
-Grindin’ the Clipse
-Superthug – Nore
-Shake it Fast – Mystical
-Back that Thang Up – juvenile
-Kick Push – Lupe Fiasco (whole Food and Liquor album really)
-All World – LL Cool J
-Ha Juvenile from 400 degreez i luv this album
-Jose 1 and 2 Fat Joe… and Don Cartegena.
ehh… i’m done.
And I don’t think TROY is the greatest hip hop song of all time. Sorry.
Dear VSB,
I am NOT a hip hop head.
That is All.
Love,
V Renee
P.S. I know the entire list but I don’t FEEL a lot of them like true hip hop heads do.
P.P.S. Please forgive me.
I dont know half of these…
Black Rob Whoa has to be on the list though
2pac – Keep ya head up
Why a female MC didnt make your list though?
Based on the comments, it seems like we should rename this list:
10 Hip-Hop Songs Hip Hop Heads Born in the ’70′s should know.
@Sula-in-training,
NO FAIR!! I was born at the very END of the 70′s.
@pgh muse,
I was born at the end of the 70s too…but there is definitely a shift in thinking after the 80s. Let’s not even start at the end of the 80s babies…they don’t know what New Jack City is!
That’s sort of what I hinted at in some earlier posts. I hear “Biggie and Tupac” usually from cats who weren’t around for the first part of the show.
@CPT Callamity,
For SHAME! We need to give these youngin’s some education.
@Sula-in-training,
i’m gonna officially take offense to this. lol.
i know all these songs and lurve them. i was just having a paid in full-off with one of my boys on my FB page not two days ago!
can the ’81 baby get some love?!?!?!?
@SouthernGirl,
’81… you such a youngin….LMAO
**coming from the ’80 baby**
@blackberry molasses,
lol
bbmo: pot
SG: kettle
No Southern Classics on the List of memorables? Hmm…
Elevators? “Me and yooooou… Yo’ mama and yo’ cu-zin’ toooo…”
Mind Playin Tricks on Me?
Gin & Juice?
Bust a Move?
I’m Bad?
It’s Tricky?
Paul Revere?
Dear Mama?
I’m not so sure about “The Choice is Yours”…
No female MCs? No MC Lyte – “Cha, Cha, Cha”, “Poor Georgie”? “See when he was young, he star-ted smokin’. Pain no attention when he star-ted chokin’. … He didn’t care, he drove off into the night, ri-ding for miles without his headlights…” No “La Di Da Di”? No Lil’ Kim, “Crush On You”? B.I.G. “Big Poppa”?
Damn, why just 10??
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY during the 80′s and 90s and these songs as well as many others were the background music to our lives. That was the beauty of NYC back then, you didn’t even need to own any music, you just turned on the radio.
My husband who grew up in the whitest household ever in middle class NJ, even knows all of these songs, although he had to actually make an effort to immerse himself in hiphop music. (Music was not the backdrop of his upbringing growing up with two republican parents.) I think he says his father owned one album!
I had to add on one more time real quick before I head off. I saw Pgh w/the all female list. If I had more time, I would do an all-female list but if ya’ll ever get a chance, listen to any of Jean Grae’s music. She’s in my top ten mc’s period category-male or female. She’s on Talib Kweli’s “Blacksmith” label. Here’s a link to one of my favorites by her called “Pardon You.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Adc2QNNNk
Lyrically, she’s what Lauryn should’ve been had she not gone the fcuk nuts for a minute messing with that Marley dude…
Take care everyone.
I know this was upost a bit but….
As far as female MC’s go, Jean Grae is one of the nicest MC’s period. Male or Female.
And my final jam that every hip-hop head should know:
“The Symphony”-Juice Crew All Stars
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro,
once again, you speak truth.
@ThePhiladelphiaNegro, Amen and hallelujah to the comment on Jean Grae. Most dudes in the game right now can’t see her, let alone the spattering of femcee’s left out here.
I’m dumb late with the comments, but I’m patting myself on the back right now. I’m 21 & grew up in a hip-hop free household (excluding Will Smith, MC Hammer, & The Mickey Mouse Raps album), but I know all the songs on this list, except Pete Rock and CL Smooth – T.R.O.Y. Pretty sure I’ve heard it, but I can’t say I “know” it. Somebody send me a link so I can familarize myself.
I think the list was missing one: A Tribe Called Quest – Bonita Applebum.
Honestly why not LL’s I need love? Or rapper’s delight? just a thought
First time commenting so don’t do me too bad. That being said as a southern hip-hop fan I have to bring up Goodie Mob.
Thought Process
Cell Therapy
Dirty South
Goodie Bag
They Don’t Dance No More
Black Ice
I Refuse Limitation
They got some good joints and I think they should at least be in the conversation. Just sayin
Oh yeah happy to be here great site.
Damn, I haven’t been here in a while.
How you doing, fellas?
I agree with both lists. This is my first time here, but both of the lists were hilarious!
Keep it up…
I agree with only like 3 songs…how is there not 1 2Pac, Outkast, EPMD, BDP, Geto Boys…or anything on this list…so bias…I bet you fromthe East Coast!!! I totally agree with T.R.O.Y. as one of the greatest songs of all-time but that is so debatable with so many songs!!! No LL Cool J or anything…you need to re-due this list even if it is your personal choice!!! Real Hip-Hop stand up!!!
T.R.O.Y.? Really? O.P.P? You must be 15.
Common “I Used To Love H.E.R”…come on son!
…and for comic relief, you forgot to mention my all time favorites from CB4:
1. Sweat from my ballz
-and-
-wait for it-
2. St8 out of Lo Cash!
LOL
woops forgot to add the ‘r’ in Str8…
What an odd list. Some good things, but not definitive choices. Whomever came up with this has a rudimentary grasp of Hip-Hop history. O.P.P.? Are you kidding? You hit some of the right artists, but the wrong songs. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Curtis Blow- “The Breaks” the first Rap soloist to get mass distribution. Its started the first Hip-Hop craze and it’s perfect.
Grand Master Flash and The Furous 5- “The Message”- Every Hip – Hop song after this took something from it. It’s genious.
2. NWA- “Dopeman” changed music. Production and lryicism.
3. Public Enemy- “Rebel Without a Pause.”- The real greatest Hip-Hop song of all time. Pete Rock and C.L. are great, but come on. P.E. is why they got into Hip-Hop. the 12″ with the B-side Wins Again.
4. Big Daddy Kane- “Raw”- Possibly the greatest flow ever put on wax. Africa Medallion stocks go through the roof.
5. Craig Mack- “Flava In Your Ear (Remix)”- Biggie blows Mack away on his own remix. Now to think about it, so does Busta and L.L. The quintessence of Bad Boy at the height of Diddy’s powers.
6. The Beastie Boys-”Hey Ladies”- Sampling becomes the standard.
7. Boogie Down Productions- “South Bronx”- The song that begat a thousand copycats. There would have been no “New Jack Swing” or “Hip Hop” Soul without it.
8. Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Doggie Dogg- “Deep Cover”- The birth of Funk laddened Gangsta Rap. The birth of Snoop. The Second Dre Dynasty, Deathrow, is born.
9. EPMD- “You Gots to Chill” A sea change in the sound of Hip-Hop.
10. Run D.M.C- “Sucka MCs”- The gold standard for classic Hip-Hop.
Buy some C.D.’s kids!! Know your history.
LL Cool J – Who do you Love! Dissapointed this doesnt feature..:-(
i can tell that the ppl who wrote and co-signed to this list are all northerners. can the south get any love?