Before They Were Famous…

GENERAL    By Gotty™ on February 18, 2007 at 3:13 pm

Words by Max Henderson

Last week, Gottyâ„¢ did a post that featured a picture of Mos Def, Big Pun, Cannibus, DMX, and John Forté. It sent me reeling. I remembered when I first saw that picture and remembered the anticipation in seeing these focused emcees on the brink of their ascension paused in this moment. I then began thinking of the early songs they and others have produced. Hip-hop culture has a way of always talking about the past glories, but it goes largely unheard on radio stations today. Whereas many station are devoted to entire decades of music, outside of XM-styled radio, hip-hop is almost always about what is current. These songs I post are dedicated to the past. It is early material catching these emcees before they “made it.”

My Kung Fu – Mos Def

Rowdy Rowdy – 50 Cent

Surgery – World Class Wreckin Cru featuring Dr. Dre

Soul By The Pound – Common

Baby On The Way – Kanye West and GLC

Funeral – Clipse

What The FucK – De La Soul

Harlem USA – Children Of The Corn

Live At The Barbecue – Main Source featuring Nas & Akinyele

No Place To Go – 1st Down (produced by J Dilla)

1000 Bars – Beanie Sigel

Dope Boyz – T.I.

50 Shots – Hot Boys

Real Live Shit (Remix) – Real Live featuring Ghostface, Cappadonna, Killa Sin

HP Gets Busy – High Potent featuring Jaz-O & Jay-Z

None of these songs are obscure and the list is a random collection. I tried to limit it to only artists who are still actively performing and are relatively influential right now. Some are apocryphal in the pantheon, like Main Source’s “Live At The Barbecue” featuring Nas and “1000 Bars” by Beanie Sigel. Some however are snapshots of artists in raw form. The World Class Wreckin Cru, which was a group Dr. Dre performed with and produced, has this hyperactive beat that sounds like something left off of Nelly Furtado’s or Ciara’s recent albums with its electronic synths and allegiance to beat machines. No sign of the funk and gloomy chords Dre favors now. Compared to the collage-pastiche style on “Donuts” you hear a more practical and rounder style on the J Dilla-produced “No Place To Go.” Listening to the energy present on “Funeral,” I am struck with the contrast in Clipse’s peerless restraint on most of Hell Hath No Fury; or, the exuberant flow Common deploys on “Soul By The Pound,” which predates the referencing and volleying-flow style now used by Cam’ron, Ludacris, and Lil’ Wayne. Wayne is here as well in his “Hot Boys” incarnation. Since there has been much dispute on his actual age, I will say he sounds young. I see why The Carter II or Dedication 2 got so much attention and why Wayne’s idea of himself has grown. T.I. has grown too. He was never a bad rapper, but he is always getting better and has stronger control on his delivery. He knows when to growl and when to become lucidly threatening to great effect these days. Both flows have become tighter. T.I. realizes this more than anyone, which may explain the look on his face at the Grammies and why Wayne is quick to call himself a competitor and challenge anyone.

The true gem here is “HP Gets Busy.” If you can withstand the beat, which sounds like someone using a simple preset on a Casio keyboard, you will hear a young Jay-Z. I have this song dated at 1986, so the Jay-Z rapping (at either 16 or 17) here has to be the same Jay he alluded to on “Do U Wanna Ride:” “Started from the crates now I’m sittin on a whole case.” I came of age in the latter part of the nineties where Jay’s influence and dominance in hip-hop was omnivorous. Some compare him to MJ in game-skill, but I think it is also because he is an artist that, whether or not you like him, you must acknowledge him. First listen to “The Prelude,” which exudes cool, self-assuredness, and autonomy that is magnetic. His flow is peerless and just steamrolls over this track, bypassing the hook to drop a blitzkrieg of astute references. Then listen to “HP Gets Busy.” None of that “cool” restraint is there. What is there, is this over-excited voice (listen to him on the hook) and this average rap that does not exactly meld with the track, which Jay has been known to do on his best work. Still, its one for the vaults and these songs lets us see how far people have come and how they have grown. These songs show that growth in rapping in terms of styles and content happen and that, given room, people survive and improve in these changing times.

Before They Were Famous (Download)

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